


Definitely Alive

by LouisaHalikiopoulou



Category: Bodyguard (TV 2018)
Genre: Everyone Is Alive, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Happy Ending, Light Angst, Nobody is Dead, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:35:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 50,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24665485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LouisaHalikiopoulou/pseuds/LouisaHalikiopoulou
Summary: Julia survives the bomb attack (of course!) and things develop from there.This is a 10 chapter story that happens in parallel to the last 3 episodes of the TV series. The investigation is in the background. It continues but David is not involved. They still uncover the plot by Craddock, Aikens, Nadia etc, but someone else does it. So no bomb vest, no dramatic scene with Vicky, no suicide attempt. Just the St Mathews College bomb and their survival...I haven't truly written it for the 'In Lockdown With Keeley' challenge but I thought it'd fit there. Hence, the link.😀
Relationships: David Budd & Julia Montague, David Budd/Julia Montague
Comments: 66
Kudos: 146
Collections: In Lockdown With Keeley





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I watched Bodyguard after having learned to appreciate Keeley Hawes in the Durrells and I have watched other works with her since. What amazes me about her acting is that she is so very credible in all kinds of parts, from Louisa Durrell, to Lindsey Denton, to Julia Montague. In Bodyguard I thought she did a great job personifying a strong woman with a successful career (with a political party I am not really a fan of, so I was a hard sell) who is also soft and caring. 
> 
> When Julia and David first had sex I thought 'blah, so cliché. The boss doing her bodyguard, just to add sex to the plot. The oldest and cheapest trick in the world. If you want to raise audience, get two attractive actors, add nudity and sex, mix well, release...'. 
> 
> But then, as things moved along, I started to see Jed Mercurio's point of showing a loving yet difficult relationship budding for such an unlikely couple. And it worked, I think mostly thanks to, again, Keeley Hawes' great acting skills. She made that believable. I mean, think of her soft loving face when she takes his hand right after the famous 'I want you right beside me...' line. She says nothing else. Not with words, but her face, gosh, her face says so much about a strong and powerful woman who in that moment drops her mask because she has fallen in love and is prepared to risk it all for it.
> 
> And then, and then... bloody Jed Mercurio killed her! At that point I was angry: dumb ass, you work so hard to make that unlikely story believable, you have such a great actor in that part and you f*#%ing kill her character halfway through the first season?!?!?! 😡😳😢
> 
> So here I go, with no writing skills at all, trying to fix the mess a great writer has made of his unlikely story. And all of this in a second language, just to make things worse with funky sentence structures and liberal use of prepositions...
> 
> Many have done this before, obviously. There are many stories of survival in this fandom. This is just one more, not particularly original or imaginative. Just my take on one of many possible alternative scenarios that should have happened...

St Mathews College. The Right Honorable Julia Elizabeth Montague, Home Secretary of the UK, is giving her speech. After a little commotion with a few protesters, the audience is now listening quietly. Her protection team is scattered around the auditorium, covering the main entrances. David has just re-entered, having ensured Tahir’s briefcase was clear. He checked. It contained only papers.

She gives him a small, hidden, smile. The crowd may think it’s about what she is saying, but he knows it’s for him. Only for him. Her eyes gazing straight into his. She is happy he is back. She wants him to hear what she has to say next. She has made changes to her speech to incorporate parts that were inspired by him. On the harshness of war. The impact it has on the civilian population. The impact it has on their British contingent in Helmand. The scars, visible and hidden, their deployment leaves.

He responds to her smile with his own, small, hidden, secret smile. Only for her. The woman who was able to see through his PTSD. To forgive his unintentional attack. The woman who has just opened her heart to him offering a real relationship. No longer hidden away at the Blackwood Hotel.

He hasn’t answered yet. He didn’t expect such opening and he didn’t want to rush a response. He wants to hold her in his arms, in her (their) bed, as he tells her how important she has become to him. How much he wants that too. Not because it’s his job, but because it’s his choice. As unlikely as that might have seemed at first, by now he is completely taken with her. In love. He can’t imagine any future other than one where he is right by her side. He will make sure he tells her later.

Suddenly, a shadow appears behind Julia, on the stage. He can’t tell who that is but he can tell it’s a man. At the same time, Kim sees the shadow too. They both begin running towards the stage. Julia sees him running. She stares at him, with surprised look.

As he runs he shouts: “jump!”, she runs towards the edge of the stage and does just that. Jumps. She does not know why he has said that. She just trusts him. Completely. Fully. No doubts. She could hurt herself badly, but she does. She jumps. She can’t be sure he will make it in time to catch her. She jumps off the high stage because he says so. Because she’d do anything he says. Because she knows he won’t let anything bad happen to her. She jumps because she trusts him. No questions. No doubts. No hesitation. No delays. And that saves her life…

As she is jumping, David leaps forward, his arms stretched. He catches her as she is almost hitting the ground. He wraps his arms around her and falls on his back, attenuating the impact of her fall with his body. He can hear a crack. He knows he has hurt himself. Probably broken something. He does not pay that any attention. Still holding her in his arms, he rolls them over, away from the stage. He tucks her safely under his body. On the ground. Kim dives to the ground too, close to them. And that saves her life…

In that moment there is a very loud explosion. The stage flies up into the air in a million fragments. Large flames spread from under the stage. They reach them, lap their joined bodies. Burn their skin. Her right side. His left side. He tucks her under him. Protectively. His hands around her head, his head by her neck. He feels the heat of the flames on his body, only partly protected by his bullet proof vest. A familiar and unforgotten sensation. Just like in Afghanistan. Blowing up on a bomb seems to always feel the same. His whole body feels hot and squeezed by a huge force going right through it. It feels like someone has just hit him on the head with a large hammer. The familiar impact of the blast. His lungs feel tight. His head heavy. His ears ring so loudly that the cries and screams from the crowd are almost completely muffled.

It seems like hours but it’s all over within a few seconds, probably less than a minute. He lifts his head and looks at her. Her eyes are wide open in fear, staring at him. Seeking safety in his eyes. In him. His throat burns, but he manages to murmur: “Julia…”, then his head flops onto her shoulder, by her neck. Passed out.

Julia cries: “David!”. Her voice is coarse. Her throat dry from the dust. Her lungs tight too, from the blast and the weight of his limp body on hers. Hot tears begin falling down her cheeks. She raises her right arm. It hurts. A lot. She lets it drop to the ground and raises her left arm instead. Her hand reaches his face. She caresses him, sobbing: “David, David… talk to me, love…”. Lying next to them, Kim has raised her head and is watching, her blurred vision slowly returning to normal.

David reopens his eyes. He was out only a few seconds but to Julia it felt much, much, longer. He lifts his head up. She is still weeping, under his body. He makes a tight smile: “Julia…”, she smiles at him. Her hand still on his face. Red with the blood that is squirting from a cut above his eyebrow. She can’t speak. Tears are still flooding from her eyes. Holding himself up on his right elbow, he strokes her hair with his right hand: “are you hurt?”, she nods: “you?”, he nods too. They are looking into each other’s eyes. Intensely. Lovingly. David reassures her: “hurt but alive. You will be ok, love”.

Kim’s voice suddenly reminds them they are not alone. She is sitting on the ground. Holding her head. Dizzy, but seemingly unhurt. She has been watching their interaction. Her ears are ringing too, but she could hear and see them very well. They have just confirmed what she and Tom have suspected for quite some time. She clears her burning throat: “help is on the way, madam. They will be here soon”.

Tom has just approached them too. He gently helps David roll off Julia: “don’t move, Skipper. It seems you have hurt your back”. Julia tries to sit up but winches in pain. Kim holds her down: “don’t move madam, let the paramedics arrive”. Julia nods. She turns her head towards David who is lying right beside her, watching her. She reaches for his hand and clasps it. He responds immediately. Their fingers intertwine with a familiar motion. They remain lain on the ground, in the dust, among the noise and the smoke, holding hands. Waiting.

The paramedics arrive. Tom attracts their attention: “the Home Secretary is here”. They place a stretcher next to Julia: “we are going to help you up on this, madam”, she points at David: “help him first. He is hurt on his back”, “someone else will help him, madam. Let us take care of you”, she shakes her head: “him first”, then she gasps. Shaking her head hurts. Like hell. As if someone has just hit her with a hammer. She closes her eyes. Intense pain throbbing through her head. The paramedic sees that: “stop moving, madam. You are hurt too”, she murmurs stubbornly: “him first”.

In that moment a second team approaches them. They place a stretcher next to David: “can you lift yourself onto this, sir?”, he tries but winches at the intense pain. He looks like he may pass out again. Julia moans: “David…”, the paramedic intercedes: “don’t move, sir. We are going to lift you up safely”. They use a cervical collar and a backboard to lift him up onto the stretcher.

When she sees that David is being helped, Julia relaxes and allows the paramedics to place her onto a stretcher too: “where are you taking us?”, “to the nearest hospital, madam. All hospitals in the area are already on high alert, waiting for the victims of the explosion”, “take the two of us to the same hospital”. It’s not a question. It’s an order. The Right Honorable Julia Montague’s still hoarse but very stern voice giving a clear, strict, inflexible, peremptory, unquestionable, nonnegotiable order. The paramedic nods: “as you wish madam”. They pick her up and load her in an ambulance. Kim climbs in next to her. Julia looks at Tom: “you go with David”. Another order. No objections allowed.

The small private waiting room is tucked in a corner of the hospital. Near the surgery rooms. Two armed guards are standing outside. David and Julia are receiving life-saving surgeries. Tom and Kim have been cleared and could go home, but they won’t. Not until they know their friend and teammate is ok. They are sitting in the waiting room on two uncomfortable plastic chairs, next to each other. Waiting quietly. Two elderly ladies are sitting across from each other. They are quiet and both look very worried. Their eyes filled with tears.

Vicky walks in, in her nurse uniform. She nods at Tom and Kim. She knows them as David’s friends. Then she approaches one of the two women. She seems surprised to find her there: “you got here quickly, Ella”, she nods and answers with shaky voice in a strong Scottish accent: “aye, they sent a government jet and flew me here from Glasgow”, Vicky seems surprised, Ella continues: “an order from high up, apparently”.

Vicky inquires: “any news?”, the Scottish woman answers on the verge of tears: “he is in surgery. They think he will survive, but he has many injuries”, then she pats a chair next to hers: “sit here, dear, if you wish”, Vicky seems unsure: “David and I have been separated for more than two years…”, the elder woman nods and makes a sad smile: “I know, but I have nothing against you, Vicky”.

Vicky sits next to her: “I am actually here for work too”, then she turns towards the other woman: “Mrs. Montague, I assume?”, the woman nods, smiling sweetly. Vicky continues: “I am here to ask whether there is anybody else the two of you would want us to contact, maybe a significant other of your children?”.

Frances Montague makes a sad smile then replies with posh accent but kind voice: “certainly not her ex-husband. She hates him”, she thinks for several seconds then she adds: “I know there is someone. Julia has been very different lately. Much happier than usual. When I inquired, she admitted seeing someone new, but she wouldn’t tell me his name. She wouldn’t say anything. She is a very reserved person…”.

Ella Budd smiles too: “it’s the same for Davy. He is being happier than he has been in a very long time. I know it’s a new girlfriend. He wouldn’t tell me her name, though”, she turns to Vicky: “maybe you know…”, Vicky shakes her head: “I have noticed that too. He has been so much more relaxed lately. A lovely dad to Ella and Charlie. I guessed there was someone in his life. I even made him admit it. He said he was in a serious relationship and wanted a divorce, but he wouldn’t tell me who she is. He said it was complicated…”.

Ella looks at Vicky: “a divorce hey?”, Vicky nods and makes a soft smile: “yes, and I have agreed to it. It’s time we both move on with our lives. My only concern are the children but I think as long as we do it right, they will be ok. We are both very committed to them and we are still in good terms. We can do it civilly. We already are, really, since our separation, so nothing will truly change for Ella and Charlie”, Ella agrees: “aye, I know. It’s a pity, but so is life…”.

Frances Montague looks at Kim and Tom and returns to the original question: “maybe you know. As her PPOs you’d know if Julia has a regular male visitor or goes on regular dates”, the two look at each other. They seem unsure. They are not allowed to divulge private information. Tom replies: “no regular visitors or dates, madam. And no one registered as ‘partner’ on her authorized visitors’ list”, Kim adds: “only Dav-, PS Budd, in the adjoining room”.

Ella looks at Frances: “do you reckon… our children…?”, Frances looks surprised at first but then nods: “well, Julia is being very busy. I know she doesn’t have time for dating lately, especially with the heightened security after that awful sniper attack…”, Ella nods: “same for Davy, he has that extended assignment to your daughter and is spending his little free time with the children…”, the two women look at each other. Ella speaks first: “well, it’d be quite coincidental if our busy children had each suddenly met someone at the same time…”.

Frances nods, then looks at Kim and Tom: “is that what’s happening?”, they are both quiet for a bit, then Kim answers tentatively: “we are not allowed to divulge private information about our principal…”, Ella intercedes: “but you can tell _me_ whether you think your _friend_ David is involved with her?”, Kim nods: “not officially, but yes, I think… actually, I _know_ he is”.

Then Ella gets up and walks up to Frances with a soft smile: “nice to meet you, Mrs. Montague. My name is Ella, Ella Budd”, Frances smiles sweetly and shakes her hand: “nice to meet you, Mrs. Budd. It seems we may see more of each other in the future, you might as well call me Frances, if you don’t mind”, Ella smiles: “of course, and you can call me Ella”. Ella sits next to Frances.

Frances sighs: “it’s already been more than four hours”, Ella nods: “it may take a lot longer. The last time, Davy’s surgeries took almost 12 hours. Frances lies back in her chair, her head against the wall: “it’s going to be a long wait…”, her eyes are filled with tears. Ella sighs and pats her hand: “I know… I am glad I won’t be waiting alone this time”.

Vicky gets up: “you are welcome to stay with me and the children, Ella”, she shakes her head: “I can’t leave, Vicky. I need to know my child is ok…”, Vicky nods: “I need to go back to work. Call me if you need anything. I mean it, anything at all”, Ella smiles softly: “thank you, my dear”.

As they wait to learn about their children’s fate, the two women strike an unlikely friendship. “So your granddaughter was named after you?”, “aye, Davy has always been a mama boy, even if he would never admit it now”, Frances smiles: “Julia has no children. She is very career oriented”, Ella nods: “aye, she is a famous person”.

Then she is quiet for a bit: “I am surprised, you know… I wouldn’t have thought of her for Davy… they are so different…”, Frances nods: “maybe… but… you know, her public figure, the tough politician everybody knows, is not the same person as _my_ Julia. My Julia is very caring. Everything she does now as a politician, everything she did before as a criminal barrister, is never for her own self-interest. It’s always to help people. Because she truly cares. She tends to hide that very well, but if your son has breached through her usual defense wall, he might have discovered the soft person hidden within”.

Ella nods: “Davy is also very reserved. He has built a very strong and tough militaristic persona, but that is wrapped around a very tender core. He is actually a very caring man. Maybe your daughter has found that”, Frances sighs and smiles softly: “it seems they are not that different after all…”, “aye, maybe they are a better match than it may seem at first”.

Tom and Kim are sitting quietly, smiling lightly. They agree. As unlikely as those two may appear as a couple, they may actually be a good match. Tom gets up and looks at the others with a gentle smile: “what do you think, ladies, shall we check out the hospital’s canteen? If we are to be here for hours, we might as well have a small dinner”, Frances makes a sad smile: “I am not really hungry, but I will join you, if you are all going”.

As the hours progress, the two women become closer and closer. Another seemingly unlikely partnership. A Labor working class woman from Glasgow and a posh upper class Tory from Cheltenham. “Will you let me know how Julia is doing?”, “yes of course and you please keep me informed about David’s conditions. Here is my cell phone number”, “and here is mine”.

A short while later a surgeon walks in, still wearing the scrubs of the operating room: “Mrs. Budd?”, Ella pales and whispers: “aye...”, “your son is out of surgery. His conditions are serious but stable”, Ella sighs in relief. The doctor continues: “do you wish to go to a private room for further information?”, Ella shakes her head: “these people are all friends of my son. I wish to share any information with them”.

The doctor nods and sits down next to her: “you son’s injuries are serious and required extensive reconstructive surgery. I am pleased to inform you that the surgeries were all successful, but his recovery will be long. His most serious injury is a fractured pelvis, in multiple points. We have added two metal plates and several orthopaedic screws to hold the bones together as they heal.

His left arm is also fractured, but that is less serious. We just had to add stabilizing screws to his radius and ulna. He also has a number of cuts and burns which required skin grafts and several stitches. Those should all recover well but are likely to leave scars.

We also had to re-inflate a collapsed lung. We think that will recover fully and relatively quickly, with appropriate breathing exercises. We also did a whole-body MRI and the good news is that it seems his other internal organs were not damaged by the blast. We will keep monitoring their function but for now we have no concerns.

Finally, he has suffered a concussion which has caused him to lose consciousness and is currently keeping him in a coma. It is not a deep coma and we have every reason to be optimistic. We think he will regain consciousness in a few days”.

Ella remains quiet. Tom smiles softly: “he is very injured but it seems the news is good overall”, Kim nods: “he will recover, Mrs. Budd…”, Ella nods and murmurs: “aye. Again… his injuries will recover, except for the scars, both visible and hidden scars…”, the doctor nods: “we have already arranged for psychiatric therapy for when he wakes up”, Ella makes a sad frown: “if he finally accepts that...”, the doctor smiles gently, then he offers: “I can take you to your son’s room, now, if you wish, Mrs. Budd”.

In that moment a second surgeon enters the room: “Mrs. Montague? Your daughter is out of surgery. Do you wish to follow me to my office for further information?”, Frances looks very tense now: “I’d rather you gave that information here, with my daughter’s friends, if you don’t mind, doctor”, the doctor sits down and explains: “the Home Secretary has several injuries, but not as bad as they could have been. Apparently, she jumped off the stage just before the blast and her bodyguard has protected her with his own body”, Kim and Tom nod.

The doctor continues: “she had a bad multiple fracture of her right femur. We have implanted two metal plates to hold the bone fragments but we also had to do a full hip replacement. Her own hip was so badly shattered that we decided a replacement was her best option. That means she will need a long recovery period with extensive physiotherapy and likely a second hip replacement in 15-20 years, when this prosthesis wears out.

She also has a broken wrist in her right arm. We have surgically realigned the bones and stabilized them with two bone nails. The wrist should recover in about 25 days. She also has 3 cracked ribs which will recover with plenty of bed rest. The right side of her body also has several burns and cuts that required stitches. Those will likely leave, mostly minor, scars. A whole-body MRI has shown no damage to internal organs. We will keep monitoring them but for now it seems the blast has not affected them.

Finally, our greatest concern right now is what seems a severe concussion. The MRI showed initial signs of brain swelling. At this point that is not a concern, but we advise a medically induced coma which will keep her brain activity at a minimum, until the swelling is reduced. We will monitor her brain with regular MRIs but at this point it seems likely the barbiturate coma will need to be maintained for two weeks”, Frances pales, her voice trembles: “two weeks in a coma?”, her eyes are full of tears.

The doctor nods: “it’s the best approach. Right now, we are allowing her to regain consciousness from the anesthetic we gave her for the surgeries. We will brief her on her conditions, then we will administer the chemicals that will induce the coma. Your daughter will be fine, Mrs. Montague. Her brain just needs a rest period, to help reduce the inflammation”. Frances nods.

The doctor gets up: “if you will follow me, I can take you to your daughter’s room. She was beginning to wake up when I left her earlier”. The two women get up and follow the doctors to their children’s rooms. As they are leaving, Ella looks at Frances: “please, keep me informed of Julia’s conditions”, Frances smiles sweetly: “I will… and you of David’s”.

The doctor walks Frances to the end of a hallway that has been closed off for the Home Secretary. Several armed police officers are on guard. At a check point two guards carefully look at Frances’ document and compare it against a list of approved visitors. The doctor shows Frances to a closed door guarded by two PPOs: “your daughter is here. I will leave you now. I will come by later, to brief her and induce the coma”.

Frances walks in. Julia is very pale, lying in a bed, with a cast on her right wrist, a traction splint onto her right leg, and bandages all over her body, including part of her face. She is hooked to two IV lines, and various monitors of her cardiovascular and brain activity. She walks up to her daughter. Julia seems asleep. She whispers: “Julia, can you hear me?”. There is no response, so she sits on a chair next to the bed and waits patiently.

It’s not long before she hears a soft whisper. She puts her ear next to Julia’s mouth and catches a faint: “David…”, she smiles sweetly. So her and Ella were correct. Her daughter’s new boyfriend is her PPO.

For the next two hours, Julia keeps drifting in and out of consciousness. Each time she wakes up she calls for David. And each time her mother replies sweetly: “David is fine, my dear. Injured but fine. He will recover”. Once she has regained enough consciousness, Julia finally asks: “where is him?’, Frances explains: “still in a coma. The doctors expect him to wake up in a few days. It’s not a deep coma”.

Julia’s eyes fill with tears. Her pride makes her try hard to hold them back but she can’t. They start streaming down her cheeks, soaking the pillow and the bandage that is covering part of her face. Frances holds her hand: “David will be fine, dear. He has several injuries but he will recover”. Julia is sobbing openly now: “it’s all my fault. It should be me…”, Frances gently caresses her cheek and wipes her tears: “don’t say that, Julia. He was protecting you”, she keeps weeping: “if I wasn’t the most hated person in England, he wouldn’t be injured now. I should have died and he shouldn’t be hurt”, Frances smiles sweetly: “I am sure he’d rather have it this way”.

Julia is quiet for some times. She manages to stop crying and regain some control, then she looks at her mother and asks quietly: “how do you know?”, Frances smiles sweetly: “David’s mother and I were waiting together for the outcome of your surgeries. It was many hours. Lots of time for chatting. She is very nice. We guessed the two of you were a couple”, Julia smirks: “you _guessed_?”, “well, yes, you both seemed much happier than usual lately and both admitted that was because of a new relationship. It didn’t take much to put two and two together”, Julia is back to be her usual feisty combative self: “but you couldn’t know for sure. That’s no evidence”, Frances makes a Montague tough smirk that looks so much like her daughter’s and chuckles: “maybe not in a court of law, my dear barrister, but it seemed very likely”.

She gives her daughter a knowing smirk, then adds: “and… as you were waking up you kept calling his name. That pretty much confirmed it…”, her voice softens as she looks at her daughter in the eyes: “you love him, don’t you?”. Julia is quiet for a while. She is too proud and stubborn to admit that to her mother, so she doesn’t answer: “you said he is injured…”.

Frances smiles softly, she did not expect her daughter to admit it openly. That David would be all that is in Julia’s mind right now is all the answers she needs. She explains what the doctor has said about David’s conditions. Julia’s eyes are teary again. Frances strokes her hand and smiles sweetly: “now that you know about David, don’t you want to know about your own injuries?”.

In that moment, the door opens and the same surgeon as before walks into the room: “I see our patient is awake. Hello Home Secretary. Have you explained things, Mrs. Montague?”, Frances shakes her head: “I haven’t had the opportunity yet”, the doctor walks up to the bed, checks the various monitors, then he sits on a chair next to Frances and explains. It takes a while. Julia listens quietly: “two weeks in a coma?”, the doctor nods: “it will protect your brain. You can think of it as a forced rest period”, Julia seems perplexed.

The doctor adds: “meanwhile your injuries will begin healing. When you wake up you will be ready to begin rehabilitation therapy”, Julia smirks: “oh great… that sounds just such a great prospect…”, the doctor chuckles. His patient surely is living up to her fame of tough politician. He looks at her and concludes: “unless you have further questions, I will begin infusing the barbiturates that will induce the coma. Julia nods: “may I have one more word with my mother, please?”, the doctor smiles: “of course. I will be outside, just call me when you are ready”.

Frances approaches her: “don’t worry, dear, you will be fine”, Julia nods: “when David wakes up…”, she is quiet. Frances waits patiently, she knows her daughter is not one to open up easily. Julia continues with soft voice: “please tell him that my offer… still stands…”. Frances smiles sweetly. After the moment of weakness, Julia hardens and adds with tough matter-of-fact voice: “he will know what I mean”, Frances smiles: “I am sure he will. Have your rest, now, dear”, Julia reaches for her mother’s hand: “thank you mother. I am sorry for putting you through this…”, Frances smiles softly, leans in and places a kiss on her daughter’s forehead. Then she gets up and calls the doctor: “she is ready”.

The next day, Frances is sitting in an armchair in Julia’s room, watching over her daughter who is in a light coma now. The door opens and Roger Penhaligon walks in, carrying a large bouquet of flowers. Frances looks at him with very stern Montague-typical gaze: “why are you here Roger? You are the last person Julia would want to see”, he feigns concern: “I want to know how my wife is doing”, Frances answers harshly: “ex-wife…”, he walks up to Julia’s bed and smiles: “how is she?”, Frances repeats her question: “why are you here Roger?”, he turns and answers sharply: “she is my wife, I am expected to be here. I should have been called sooner”, she scoffs: “certainly not by Julia… nor me…”.

They are quiet for a bit then Frances gets up, walks up to him and talks straight into his face: “leave this room now, Roger. The last thing Julia needs is your fake concern. I know you are here just to look good in the public eye”, Roger smirks. His former mother in law is showing the harsh Montague family attitude he knows all too well: “I am the Chief Whip and Julia has to respond to me, whether she likes it or not”, Frances opens the door: “she only responds to the PM. You leave now, Roger and don’t come back. I will have the guards throw you out if you do. I won’t play into your dirty political game”. Roger scoffs and leaves.

Frances walks up to Julia’s new PPO (David’s replacement) at the door: “do you have the list of people approved to visit my daughter, young man?”, the PPO hands her a tablet with the list. She takes it and deletes Roger’s name. Then she adds David Budd and Ella Budd. The PPO looks perplexed: “I can’t allow such changes without my superior’s approval”, Frances replies with polite but stern voice: “then we will have to contact that superior of yours, won’t we?”, she walks back to Julia’s room. As she is entering, she turns back towards the PPO and adds: “let me know when you receive approval. I am happy to talk to your superior directly, if that can help”. Julia’s feisty personality seems to run in the family…

Over the next several days Frances and Ella enter a new routine. In the morning, they have coffee together at the hospital canteen, then they go to their children’s rooms and sit by their beds, patiently and lovingly tending to them. They often sit together by one of their children, chatting amicably and keeping each other company over the long waits. They also have their meals together. On the first day they have their lunch at the canteen, but they agree the food is really bad, so they get into the habit of going out of the hospital and walking to one of the nearby small restaurants and pubs.

The second day they are sitting at a small café. Frances asks: “where are you staying in London?”, “in David’s flat. What about you?”, “in Julia’s flat. It’s very convenient because it is a short drive away. They have assigned me a PPO who also drives me there and picks me up in the morning”, “oh that sounds very convenient indeed. Instead, I have to take two trains in the tube each way”.

Frances smiles: “why don’t you stay with me? There is a guest room and I am sure Julia wouldn’t mind”. Ella hesitates. She knows their two families are from different worlds and she is worried this may be just ‘charity’ on Frances’s part.

Frances can see that in her eyes: “honestly, I’d be happy to have your company. When I get home and I am all alone in that flat all I can think about is Julia and I have the darkest thoughts. I often cry thinking my baby may never wake up…”, Ella puts her hand on Frances’ on the table and smiles sweetly: “she will wake up, you know that”, Frances nods: “I know, but in those moments it seems easy to forget…”.

Ella smiles: “if you think it’d help I could stay with you. Maybe for just a few days”, Frances smiles happily: “excellent. This evening I can ask the PPO to drive us to David’s flat first, so that you can collect your things”. That evening Ella moves in with Frances and remains there for several weeks, until their children are finally ready to leave the hospital together.

One day, Stephen Hunter-Dunn, Director General of the Security Service, goes to the hospital. He walks to Julia’s room and is surprised to find Ella there: “Mrs. Montague, I did not realize you had visitors”, she smiles: “please meet my friend Mrs. Budd”, Hunter-Dunn is even more surprised to learn who that visitor is: “well, I was actually going to find you too, Mrs. Budd, so I might as well talk to the two of you at the same time”, the two women lead him to an interconnected room next door that has been set up as a small living room/resting space for Frances. They sit on the hard faux leather sofa.

Hunter-Dunn sits on an armchair and explains: “there is CCTV footage from St Matthews College that is going to be released to the press. I thought the two of you should see it ahead of that. It shows the moment of the explosion”, he then takes a laptop out of his briefcase and loads a video. He clicks on play and turns it towards the two women. They watch intently, quietly. In the end, Hunter-Dunn asks: “would you like to see it again?”, Ella is crying, wiping her tears with a tissue. Frances replies: “yes, please”. After the second viewing, Frances turns to Ella and whispers: “he saved her life. Without David Julia wouldn’t have survived. He covered her with his body, just before the explosion”,

Hunter-Dunn nods: “she survived for two reasons. One is that he physically protected her with his own body. The other is that she showed no hesitation. When he shouted, she jumped off the stage. Just in time”. The two women look at each other and smile sweetly. They know why. Hunter-Dunn looks at them curious: “you don’t seem surprised…”, Frances guesses David will be in trouble if his relationship with his principal is discovered, so she uses her Montague-family contending skills and answers confidently: “why would we be surprised? We know he was her PPO back then. Of course my daughter would trust him. He was hired to protect her”, Ella nods, grateful for Frances’ quick wits.

Hunter-Dunn moves to get up to leave. Frances asks: “may I have a copy of that video? I’d like to show it to Julia when she wakes up”, “of course, madam”, then she turns to Ella: “you too, Mrs. Budd?”, Ella nods: “yes please, I’d like to show it to my husband, Davy’s father, who is in Scotland, always waiting for news. And I am sure Davy would like to see it too”. Hunter-Dunn uses his computer to send them a link: “you can download it from here”, Ella takes her cell phone out, taps a few times, then: “done, I have it in my phone now”, then she turns towards Frances: “would you like me to do it even for you?”, she hands her phone, grateful: “yes please, I am not good with technology”, Ella smiles: “neither am I, but with Davy I had to learn a few things. He often shares videos of my grandchildren on his dropbox”.


	2. Awake – you chose me, can I choose you now?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> David and Julia wake up from their comas. 
> 
> Now there are important conversations to be had, important decisions to be taken, important choices to be made...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here you go, chapter 2 is up. I have 8 more to go. All already written up. I will post them about 1/week.
> 
> Thank you all for the kudos and nice comments. I appreciate them all.👍😀💕

One day, a week after the surgeries, Frances and Ella are sitting in David’s room, next to his bed, when he moves slightly. He has been doing that lately. The doctors say it’s a sign he may be waking up. Ella gets up and leans in: “Davy? Can you hear me?”, David moves his hand and murmurs: “Julia…”, Ella turns to Frances and smirks: “here he goes, in case we needed any further evidence…”, Frances smiles. David speaks again: “Julia…”, then he opens his eyes. Ella smiles sweetly: “Julia is asleep, love, but she will be fine”, David looks confused and murmurs: “what?”, Ella smiles: “you were calling her name, Davy”.

David closes his eyes. The sharp light in the room is bothering him. Frances can see that, gets up, walks to the switch, and dims the lights. David sees her: “who is she?”, Ella smiles: “Julia’s mother”, David looks totally confused now. Frances approaches the bed: “it’s nice to finally meet you in person, David. Your mother speaks very fondly of you” then she smiles softly: “and so does my daughter…”. David smiles sweetly: “she does?”, Frances nods, smiling, “where is she?” he is looking around the room, Ella explains: “she is in a different room, Davy. She can’t come here”, David looks worried now: “is she injured?”, the two women nod.

He heaves a deep sob and looks at Frances: “I am so sorry, it’s all my fault”, Frances appears surprised: “your fault? How? You haven’t placed that bomb, have you?”, he looks horrified: “of course not! I’d never want to hurt Julia!”, Frances smiles sweetly: “then why are you apologizing?”, “I was her PPO. I was supposed to protect her. I have failed her. I have failed you…”, tears are falling from his eyes now. Frances approaches him and smiles gently: “the bomb was under the stage. Checking there was not your job”, he seems surprised: “under the stage? But the police had checked there multiple times”, Frances nods: “that’s where the leak was. Lorraine Craddock has been arrested for collusion with terrorists and the organized crime. It was not your fault at all”.

David lies in his bed quietly, then: “how is Julia?”, Frances turns to Ella and smiles softly: “just like Julia, before her own injuries she asked about him”, David smiles sweetly: “is she ok?”, Ella chuckles: “I am glad you are here, Frances. I probably don’t know enough details of Julia’s conditions to satisfy Mr. Lover’s curiosity here”, David blushes and looks away, but does not deny it. Frances smiles and explains Julia’s conditions. He asks many questions and she provides all of the details he wants to know.

David murmurs: “in a coma?”, his face expressing a deep sadness: “I should have protected her better. I should be the one in a coma right now”, Frances takes her phone out of her handbag, loads the video of the explosion, and hands it to David: “as far as I am concerned there was nothing more you could have done”. David watches the video. Twice. Then he sits quietly. Frances speaks softly: “I will never be able to express how grateful I am, David, for saving Julia’s life. Twice. During the Thornton Circus shooting and at St Matthews College”.

They are all quiet for a bit, then Frances continues: “and if her love for you is what has enabled this, then I can only be happy for that too”, David looks at her, surprised: “enabled?”, Frances explains: “when you shouted to jump off the stage, she just did it. She trusted you completely. I know my Julia, David. She is not one to trust people easily. Her feelings for you have saved her life”.

David is speechless. Her words flash back to his memory, _you’re the only one I trust_ … and then just before the explosion… _I want you right beside me not because it's your job, but because it's our choice_. He has never had a chance to reply to her. She is in a coma now and she doesn’t know how badly he wants to choose her. He lets out a deep sigh.

Frances smiles softly: “before they induced the coma she gave me a message for you”, David looks up, surprised: “for me? She told you about us?”, Frances looks at Ella and smiles: “she didn’t need to. We had guessed it. And just like you, when she woke up from surgery she repeatedly called your name”, then she continues: “she asked me to let you know that her offer still stands…”. Frances smiles sweetly, then adds: “she said you’d know what it means”.

David nods, then lies quietly in his bed for a while, before murmuring: “I can’t wait to take her offer…”. Ella smiles: “you will be able to when she wakes up, Davy. One more week”, then she smirks: “now that you know all about Julia’s conditions, would you like me to explain yours?”

Over the next few days David’s conditions improve. He is fully awake and begins his physiotherapy. His broken pelvis is the biggest challenge. He can’t put any weight on it yet. He can’t even sit in his bed, the uncomfortable cast holding his pelvis flat. The physiotherapist has him do several exercises. All in bed. David is rather frustrated: “when will I be able to walk?”, the physiotherapist, Steve, is a patient young man, used to impatient clients: “in a few weeks, David. Right now we are preparing your muscles so that you will be able to support the weight of your body once you are ready to get up”, David nods: “I will keep practicing then”, “sounds good. Don’t overdo it, though. If you feel pain, you must stop. You don’t want to injure yourself even more”, David nods.

Ella and Frances continue spending lots of time together. David comes to know Frances quite well, and Frances gets to know him and his children. She can see his sweet personality, especially when he is with Ella and Charlie. Hidden behind the military armour there is a loving man. She can also see it in his eyes that he is a troubled person, carrying the weight of his previous experiences. That worries her, but she can also see how fond of Julia he is. The gleam in his eyes and the soft smile on his face when he talks about her are those of a man in love. Whatever it is that those two have been up to, it has led to a real and deep relationship. If that finally brings her daughter happiness, she is happy for her. She can’t wait to see them together.

One day Frances walks into David’s room. Ella is there, helping him with his lunch, cutting up his steak so that he can eat it with his one hand, the other being still in a cast. As David finishes his meal, Frances announces the big news: “tomorrow the doctor will suspend the barbiturates and allow Julia to wake up. They did another MRI today and they say her brain swelling is resolved”, Ella makes a big happy smile and hugs Frances: “finally!”.

David looks both happy and sad at the news. He is very quiet. Ella guesses the reason: “I am sorry you won’t be able to be present, Davy”. Frances offers a compromise: “I can have you on the phone with me when she wakes up and I can keep you updated”, he looks at her very gratefully and murmurs: “thank you…”, Ella intervenes: “and if you FaceTime you will also be able to see her”. Frances smiles: “excellent idea. I am happy to do that”, then she gets up: “if you are done with your lunch, David, then maybe your mother and I can go for ours".

As they walk out of the hospital, Frances looks at Ella with a knowing smirk: “go with me, my friend. I have an idea for our two lovers”. They walk up a commercial street until Frances enters an electronics shop. She approaches the shop assistant: “I’d like to purchase a smart phone, with no contract. Just a prepaid card”. She chooses a phone from several the shop assistant shows her and puts lots of money on the prepaid card. Ella looks puzzled but says nothing.

As they walk out with her purchase Frances explains: “Julia’s work cell phone is always monitored by the secret services. She won’t be able to contact David with that without revealing their relationship. She can use this instead. Without a contract her name will never be linked to it. I have put enough money in it that they can video each other as much as they wish”, then she smiles at Ella with a smirk: “I have a feeling they will do that a lot”, Ella giggles: “me too”.

The next morning, Frances is sitting near Julia’s bed. The doctor walks into the room and shuts the IV that delivers the barbiturates: “to avoid over-arousing her brain we are not using stimulants to induce an awake state. We will just allow the barbiturates to be slowly cleared by her system. It will take a few hours for her to wake up completely. It will be gradual, similar to when she woke up from surgery. I will return when she is awake. Meanwhile, the nurse will be coming in periodically to check in on her heart rate and her EEG trace”. Frances thanks the doctor then she takes the new cell phone and calls David to let him know: “as soon as she begins moving I will FaceTime so that you can see her”.

About two hours later, Julia moves. She lifts her uninjured arm, then she drops it back onto the bed. Then she murmurs: “David…”. Frances calls him and switches the camera such that he can see her. Julia moves again: “David…”, Frances holds the phone close to her daughter. He speaks sweetly: “I am here, love, can you hear me?”.

Julia continues sleeping for a bit, then she starts moving again. This time David speaks first: “Julia…”, she responds to his voice immediately and murmurs: “David… you are here…”, she opens her eyes and sees her mother. She whispers with feeble voice: “where is he?”, Frances smiles: “on FaceTime, in this phone”.

Julia reaches with her arm. Frances puts the phone in her still shaky and weak hand and helps her hold it up, onto her chest. Julia looks at David and smiles very tenderly. Frances is really moved. She hasn’t seen that truly genuine and loving smile on her daughter’s face very often in her life. Julia is still quite weak. David speaks to her softly: “welcome back with us, love”, she smiles at him very sweetly: “hello…”.

Frances feels like an intruder. As soon as it looks like Julia is strong enough to hold the phone up, she walks to the room next door where she can keep an eye on her without listening to their conversation. She watches from a distance as Julia and David talk, the smile on her daughter’s face says it all...

Later, the doctor walks in with a wide smile: “Home Secretary. I am happy to see you fully awake. Excellent progress!”, she makes a tight smile: “please do call me Julia. My job has no relevance to your job, has it?”, he smiles: “glad to see your fiery personality back, Julia”, then he hears a loud laugh coming from the cell phone Julia is holding. She looks at it with a smirk: “hey, did I say you could laugh at me like that, sir?”, David chuckles. His Julia is definitely back. The doctor approaches and recognizes his other patient: “David, I did not realize you were here too”, he laughs: “I had to check in to make sure you had awoken the Home Secretary, doc”.

The doctor smiles, then he turns to Julia: “we have run several analyses and tests. I am here to inform you of the results. This is private information so you should decide who you wish to be present”, David remarks: “I should let you go…”, she smiles at him: “no stay, David, if you wish”, then she turns towards the doctor: “and my mother, of course”. The doctor nods and explains all of the results: “so the overall picture is quite positive. Tomorrow you will be able to begin physiotherapy for your hip. For now you can only put very little weight on your leg. And you can’t sit. Actually, sitting will be the last thing you will be able to do. You will be walking before you can sit normally. She groans: “and when will I be able to walk?”, “fairly soon, actually, but it will be a while before you can walk long distances. You will need to build muscle strength first. Your physiotherapist will be able to give you better answers to that kind of questions. He will come by tomorrow morning".

The rest of the day is quite busy. Several specialists come by to explain to Julia her next steps. David is present at all of the visits. The most important is the neurologist: “you will need to take things really easy, Ms. Montague. You really don’t want to trigger more brain inflammation. You will need frequent rest and naps and low levels of brain stimulation. No loud music. No loud television. No bright lights. Limited reading, limited screen time, and always with low screen brightness”.

She groans: “you sound like my mother when I was a child, doctor”, he chuckles. Frances chuckles too: “except that back then it was easier to make you comply, darling”, she laughs: “I will behave mother. I want to recover quickly. I certainly don’t wish to go back to a medically induced coma”, David agrees: “don’t you dare. I have missed you…”, she smiles at him sweetly.

Later, Frances and Ella go home. David and Julia FaceTime alone. Finally. He is watching her very lovingly: “Julia…”, she smiles softly: “what?”, “your mother has told me that you said your offer still stands”, she looks away, feigning indifference: “it is and you don’t need to reply anything you don’t feel only because I have just woken up from a coma”, he chuckles. His tough Julia is never far away. Always ready to raise her protective shield. “Look at me, love. Please…”, she looks back at the screen. He smiles sweetly: “you don’t know how I wish I could hold you in my arms right now”, she smiles softly: “me too, David”, he continues with sweet voice: “I’d hold you, and kiss you, and caress you… and…”, she interrupts: “and… ?!? this is becoming interesting, Sergeant...”, he chuckles: “yes, that too, but it may be a while before we receive permission to do that from our physiotherapists”. She groans. They both laugh.

He is quiet for a bit. He just looks at her tenderly. She does not say anything. She just looks back at him, with the same sweet smile she made on that day, when she held his hand after making her offer. Finally, he blurts: “I love you Julia”, she looks surprised by that sudden declaration. He continues: “I wanted to reply to your offer that evening. I wanted to tell you back then, but I never got to. I have fallen in love with you, Julia. I choose to be with you. Always. Now that I am not your PPO I will ask to be reassigned so that we can be together freely”.

She smiles at him very sweetly: “I love you too, David. After two assassination attempts, nothing else seems to matter as much as it did before. Only you. You matter more than anything…”, he keeps staring into her eyes lovingly: “gosh, I so wish I could hold you right now, my love”, she smiles sweetly: “me too…”.

They continue talking for a long time, until the night nurse walks in and scolds her: “Ms. Montague, you really need rest right now. Enough screen time, please”, Julia smiles: “fine, I will close this conversation now”. After the nurse leaves she gives David a loving smile: “good night my love”, he replies softly: “good night Julia, see you tomorrow”.

The next day Julia and David FaceTime for hours. She is watching during his physiotherapy. He is there during hers, encouraging her and cheering with her when Steve (yes, it turns out they have the same physiotherapist) replaces her leg’s traction splint with a lighter brace, helps her get off her bed for the first time, and holds her as she stands by her bed for a few minutes, before helping her back onto it.

They keep their cell phones standing on their trays even during their meals, breakfast and lunch. Their mothers can see that and say nothing. They are just glad their children are so obviously happy together.

In the afternoon they don’t FaceTime. Julia is busy with her personal secretary who brings her up to speed with the latest from the Home Office. After that she is very tired. Her nurse turns down the lights: “you need to rest now Ms. Montague. Your concussion is still recovering”. Julia acts tough but she actually feels tired. She closes her eyes and sleeps for a couple of hours.

In the meanwhile, Vicky brings their children to visit David and their grandma Ella. Frances is there too at that point and she plays with Charlie and Ella Jr. They are all happy together and spend a nice afternoon.

When Julia and David can FaceTime again it is evening, after their mothers have left for the day. She texts him: “all alone? Did you want to talk?”, within seconds she receives the FaceTime call: “hello…”, he is smiling at her very sweetly: “hello my love, I am happy to see you. I have missed you”, she smirks: “missed me in just a few hours?”, he smiles: “yes, Julia, I miss you when I can’t see you”, she smiles softly, then she admits: “I’ve missed you too”, he looks at her lovingly. For a few minutes they just look at each other, smiling sweetly, their eyes full of love.

Then he suddenly turns very serious. She notices that: “what?”, he hesitates, looks away, and murmurs: “love, there is something I need to tell you that you won’t like”, her eyes harden instantly. Her Montague protective armor is up in the blink of an eye, her tone is stern now: “what is it, David?”.

He looks at her with loving and sad eyes: “before I tell you…”, he hesitates. She waits quietly. He continues with trembling voice: “I want you to know that I truly mean it when I say that love you, Julia. There is nothing I want more than a future with you. As I tell you the rest I ask that you never forget this, please…”, she nods, still looking very stern.

He hesitates again: “I also ask that you please listen to what I have to say to the end. Differently from you, I am not good with words. I am not a lawyer or a politician, but I really, truly, want to explain. I know you will be angry, but please listen to the end”, she nods, still with her Home Secretary tough gaze.

He takes a deep breath and begins: “it’s actually two things. The first is that I knew the Thornton Circus attacker personally”, she looks really surprised but remains quiet, allowing him to finish what he wants to say.

He continues: “his name was Andy Apsted. We served in Afghanistan together. He was on my team the day we hit the IED that killed three of us and injured Andy and me. We met regularly after we returned to England, usually at a cafe for army veterans. When I told him I had been assigned to your protection team, he uttered threats against you. He was very angry with you, for voting in favor of the war. I did not take him seriously. I never thought he’d act on those threats. I swear, Julia, had I thought he was serious and he had the means to do what he did I would have reported him. I blame myself every day for not doing that”, he pauses. He is clearly very upset now.

She speaks sternly: “and you have never told the investigating officers?”, he shakes his head: “I was worried they’d remove me from your protection team. I wanted to continue protecting you, love, especially after that attack. Especially after we become involved. I couldn’t trust anybody else”. Julia’s eyes soften somewhat. Very briefly, then they go back to the hard politician stare. David gulps.

She speaks with hard tone: “is there anything else you wanted to tell me about this Andy Apstead?”, he shakes his head. His eyes are very sad. He can see his Julia pulling away from him and he so wishes he could hold her back.

She continues with very cold voice: “you said there were two things you wanted to tell me…”, he nods, takes a deep breath and whispers: “I love you…”, she looks at him sternly and speaks coldly: “stop saying that, David, just continue, please”, he nods, looking at her with deeply sad eyes: “I mean it, though…”, she says nothing.

He knows he has to keep talking, hoping she will listen to the end: “one day I was summoned to Craddock’s office. Anne Sampson was there too. They told me they were going to put me in a room adjacent to yours and they gave me a device for me to spy on you. When I refused they said they’d take my family off the safe house. They also said you knew about the attack to my children’s school ahead of it and did nothing about it”, she frowns.

He continues: “now I know that was not true and even back then I thought they may be lying. I did not want to go along with their plan, but they are my superior. I felt trapped…”, he is crying now, tears rolling down his cheeks: “Julia, I did not want to do it…”.

He is quiet for a bit, trying to regain control, but he keeps weeping. She murmurs: “but you did… and at the same time as you were sleeping with me…”, he nods: “but I gave them nothing they didn’t already know. They called me in periodically for updates. Most of the times I told them you had had no visitors. A couple of times I told them you had met with Hunter-Dunn because I knew they already had that information. It was in your schedule. I have never told them anything they wouldn’t already know. I have never given them any of the recordings I made. I have never betrayed you Julia. Please, believe me, my love…”, he is sobbing uncontrollably now.

He can see pure anger in her eyes. He can see their future together crumbling.

She says nothing, clearly making a great effort to control her anger. He keeps weeping: “my love, I know I can’t prove it, but please believe me when I say I’d never do anything that may hurt you. All I wanted was to protect you. Always. Julia, my love, please, think about all of this before you react. Give me, us, a chance”, he keeps sobbing.

She is silent for several minutes then she speaks quietly, clearly struggling to control her anger: “we should close this conversation now, David”, he nods: “can I call you later?”, she remains very serious: “I don’t know…”, he pleads: “please…”, she shakes her head: “not today. Maybe tomorrow…”, with that she ends the call.

Then she lies back in her bed, closes her eyes and sighs deeply. The only one she could trust. The only one she has allowed herself to fall in love with… fuck… she weeps for a very long time. Broken. Betrayed on so many levels…

The next day Frances and Ella are very surprised when they don’t find them on FaceTime. As they often do, when they get to the hospital they first visit David together. He tries to act normally but he is visibly upset. Even if he makes his militaristic stern face, he can’t fool his mother.

Ella goes after him: “what’s wrong, Davy? Why are you not talking with Julia?”. He looks at them both, shakes his head and does not reply. Ella continues: “if you don’t want to talk I will respect that, of course, but it seems to me you do need to talk, Davy”, he shakes his head and remains silent. His mother sighs and turns towards Frances: “let me walk you to Julia’s room”.

In that moment they hear a whisper: “I have fucked up…”, they look at David and see that he is crying, big tears streaming down his cheeks. Ella walks up to him and puts a hand on his arm: “is it really that bad?”, he nods: “I have done things she will never be able to forgive”, he is sobbing now: “I’ve told her and now I’ve lost her”, his shoulders are shaking.

Frances approaches: “I don’t know what you have done, David, but I do know Julia truly cares about you. Maybe she will find it in her to forgive you”, he is still weeping: “I so wish you are right, Frances”. The two women look at each other. Ella sighs. Frances walks towards the door: “I will be off to Julia’s room. I will see you later for lunch, Ella”.

A few minutes later, Frances enters Julia’s room. The room is quiet. Julia is lying in her bed. Her eyes are closed, but it is clear she is not sleeping. Frances approaches her. Julia opens her eyes. They are full of tears. Frances takes her hand: “what’s wrong, Julia?”. She wipes her tears: “nothing, mother”, “it’s David, isn’t it?”, Julia’s face hardens: “I don’t wish to talk about it. Stop asking, mother”. They sit quietly for a while, Julia pretends to watch television, but Frances knows she isn’t paying any attention.

Later, the physiotherapist arrives. Frances leaves and finds Ella in David’s room. She waves at her, from the hallway. Ella joins her and Frances inquires: “did you find out what happened?”, “Julia wouldn’t say. She has put up her defense wall, but she is clearly very upset”, Ella nods: “David wouldn’t talk either. He just sits there, sulking and wiping his tears when he thinks I am not watching”, the two women sigh and go off to their lunch.

That afternoon it’s more of the same. David and Julia are both very upset and their mothers cannot break through their armors. When they leave in the evening they feel quite defeated.

Once alone, David texts Julia: “talk now?”, she sees the text but does not reply. He sends another: “please, love”, she sighs, opens FaceTime and calls him. He answers immediately, with a happy smile: “hello, love!”, when he sees her face, his smile fades instantly. She is still clearly very, very upset. He struggles for words: “have you been thinking about what I’ve told you?”, she just stares at him, “sorry love, that was a stupid question…”.

He hesitates but he knows he is the one to do the talking now. If he wants her back he needs to work for it… and play his cards really well: “…I can see you are very angry…”, she nods, but does not speak, “I understand. If I was you I’d be angry too… but I hope you can find a way to allow us to move beyond this together”.

She shakes her head then whispers: “how? I don’t know how, David… how can I trust you again? How can I go back to a state where I’d jump off a high stage just because you said so? You were the only one I trusted… and now I don’t know what to think anymore….”.

She wipes a tear, then continues with broken voice: “did you shag me just so you’d have easier access to my confidential documents?”, he looks at her with deep pain in his eyes and screams: “no! No! Sleeping with you, falling in love with you, had nothing to do with that!”.

He had promised himself he’d stay calm, to win her over again, but at this point he is getting very upset too. He takes several deep breaths, then he continues with calmer voice: “I could have hidden all of this. With Craddock gone, you may never find out. But I wanted no shadows between us. No secrets. Because I love you, Julia, and I want us to have a future. Can’t you see that?”.

She shakes her head and speaks with trembling harsh voice: “and how do I know there’s nothing else you are hiding, David? How can I trust you the way I did before?”, he heaves a sad sigh: “Julia, I can’t give you evidence. I can only give you my word. There is nothing else. And I will never hide anything from you again. Never! Please believe me, love”.

She stares at him sternly: “stop calling me that…”, he answers with very sad voice: “I can stop saying it, but I can’t stop feeling it. I love you, Julia… and you love me…”, she gives him a severe look: “you give yourself lots of credit, don’t you?”, he shakes his head and admits: “not really. I am terrified, actually, that I may be losing you right now. I just hope what you told me yesterday was true. If it was, then I can’t believe it’d be all gone so quickly. If you loved me yesterday, can’t you find that love in you even today?”.

She remains quiet for a long time, then she murmurs: “if I couldn’t I wouldn’t be talking to you right now…”, he makes a tentative soft smile: “then, please, give me a chance, give _us_ a chance, Julia”, she makes a sad smirk: “how? Put you on probation?”, he smiles sweetly, his eyes still sad, his face showing timid signs of hope: “if that’s what it takes…”.

She looks at him for a long time. He can see the emotions going through her face. From pure anger, to indecision, uncertainty, fear… until she makes a soft, loving, smile: “probation it is, then, but don’t you think you are off the hook!”, he smiles very, very, happily now: “I won’t forget that ma’am”, she smiles too: “you’d better not, Sergeant”, he makes a mock military salute, dangerously dragging his IV line up to his forehead: “never, Home Secretary…”, then his voice softens and he looks at her with his eyes full of love: “my beloved Home Secretary…”.

She mocks him now: “you wouldn’t even vote for me…”, he replies wittily: “I can’t afford to live in your constituency on a police salary, ma’am”, she ignores the political jab. Instead, she continues with the teasing: “are you saying that if you lived in Thames West you’d vote for me?”, he hesitates, she can see that: “you said no more lies, PS Budd…”, he nods and mumbles: “I have never voted anything other than Labor, you know that…”, she smiles sweetly: “I still don’t need you to vote for me…”.

He smiles softly: “I will always protect you… and I will always love you”, her voice is stern, yet soft, now: “don’t make promises you can’t keep, David”, “oh, I know I can keep this one…”, he stares at her very, very, sweetly. She smiles at him again, then she shakes her head and speaks with harder tone: “still on probation…”, he nods, his eyes sad: “I know…”.

He decides to change the topic of their conversation: “tell me how you are feeling today, love. How did your physiotherapy go? Did Steve have you get up again?”, she nods: “I took a few steps around the bedroom”, he smiles happily: “that’s great news, love!”, she scoffs and answers with sarcasm and contempt in her tone: “10 steps around a hospital room, using a walker like a 90-year-old… quite the achievement… and all with one hand, ladies and gentlemen, because the other is still in a cast…”.

He smirks: “it’s more than I can do…”, she looks at him with sad eyes: “I am sorry, David. I know…”, he smiles sweetly: “but it doesn’t give you the patience you need…”, she shakes her head, he continues: “neither to me. I am not very good at staying in bed hooked to an IV delivering pain killers all day long, fucking drop after fucking drop…”, she nods: “I know… neither am I…”.

She looks at him quietly for a while, then she asks softly: “is this how it felt the first time?”, he nods: “aye, not the exact same injuries, but the same sense of helplessness”, she looks sincerely emotional about it: “how did you do it? How did you cope?”, he looks at her sadly: “honestly, I don’t know…”, he is quiet for a bit then he continues, with very low voice: “I don’t think I ever did cope…”.

She smiles sadly: “a Psychiatrist will be coming by tomorrow afternoon. They say I should consider therapy… to help cope with the trauma… the nightmares… the sweats… the panic…”. Her voice is shaking. This is not easy to admit for the tough Home Secretary, Right Honorable Julia Montague.

He nods, looking very serious too. He replies with soft voice: “a Psychiatrist is coming here too. I’ve agreed to see her. I never have before, but now I want to get better…”, he hesitates, this is difficult to externalize, but he continues: “I want to face my PTSD… For you. For us…”, she nods and smiles sweetly. He adds softly: “you know… it’s the first time I call it that… PTSD”.

She keeps looking at him with a tender smile, without talking. She knows this is not easy for him to say. He looks at her, with sad eyes: “it destroyed my marriage. Now I am lucky enough to get another chance… with you… I don’t want to ruin that. I really do want a future with you, my love”, he is quiet for a bit then he smirks: “I know… still on probation…”. She smiles sweetly.

In that moment the night nurse walks in. Julia looks at her with a smirk: “I know, I know, no more screen time…”, the nurse nods and leaves the room. David chuckles: “always breaking the rules, Home Secretary…” she giggles: “an unruly patient…”, he smiles at her sweetly: “good night my love, have sweet dreams”, she replies with tender voice: “good night… love”.


	3. Slowly recovering, together…

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Both of their conditions improve a lot, especially Julia's who can now walk longer distances.

The morning after Julia and David’s great upset, the two mothers are very happy to find their children on FaceTime. And David and Julia look happy again. They are connected throughout the day. During their physiotherapy, during meals, even during his children’s visit. Frances is in David’s room too at that point. David’s children know her well by now. David introduces Charlie and Ella Jr to Julia for the first time. He very honestly tells them she is daddy’s girlfriend and the children seem to accept that rather well.

After the children leave, Ella approaches her son who is still on FaceTime with Julia: “I am happy to see the two of you have patched up whatever it was that had you both so sad and upset yesterday”, David nods and murmurs: “not as happy as I am, ma…”, Julia just smiles.

Ella is kinda nosey now: “and you wouldn’t tell us why you were that upset?”, Frances says nothing but she is listening in carefully. She is curios too and she knows she’d never get away with asking her daughter. David shakes his head.

Ella tries to prompt him: “you said you had told Julia you had done things she would never forgive… it seems she has…”, David looks very serious now: “I don’t know that I can say that, yet…”, Julia adds sternly: “still on probation…”, David nods, his eyes and voice very sad: “aye, I know…”. The two mothers don’t know what that is all about but they do know those two truly care about each other. They just hope they will figure things out.

Over the next several days, they continue with their very long FaceTime calls, physiotherapy, psychiatric therapy, and daily visits by Julia’s personal secretary who keeps her updated on work matters. Mike Travis visits and/or calls frequently too. He is being acting Home Secretary but he respects Julia’s experience and he is often seeking advice, quite clearly, even if he does not always admit it.

One day, as he is leaving, Mike remarks: “Julia, Rob MacDonald is asking to come and visit you. He says there are things he wants to discuss with you…”, she smirks: “which I do not really wish to discuss with him at this point. Can you please let him know that as long as I am in recovery I need to limit my work engagements?”

Mike nods: “of course…”. They both know Rob is interested in Julia beyond their work relationship and Julia certainly does not intend to aliment any hopes by allowing him to visits her in hospital.

After Mike leaves her room, she FaceTimes David. He answers with a big happy smile: “hello love, are you done with work?”, she smiles: “yes, finally”. They happily chat for a bit until the nurse walks in: “Ms. Montague. You have been having a busy day”, she walks to the window and lowers the blinds: “you need rest now”.

David chuckles: “nighty night love. Call me when you wake up…”, she smiles at him sweetly: “sorry, love, nurse’s orders are stricter and better enforced than doctor’s orders, as I am learning”, the nurse chuckles: “glad you’ve figured that out, madam”, then she leaves the room.

A week later, David calls Julia: “I just got back from the X-ray. They said my pelvis is healing and this afternoon they will finally remove that bloody pelvic plaster cast. They said I will be able to get up in a week”, she cheers: “I am so happy, love”, he scoffs and grumbles: “aye, I will finally be allowed to walk to the toilet…”, she smiles softly: “hey you, grumpy man, there’s no need to be that sarcastic. That’s important…”.

He chuckles: “aye, I know. How about you? How long did you manage to walk today?”, she smiles happily: “a fair bit, actually. With Steve’s help, I went up and down the long hallway twice. And after he left I did it two more times with my mother. My leg feels a lot stronger, finally”, “that’s wonderful my love, you are progressing so well. I wish I could be there to cheer you along”.

She smiles sweetly: “I can’t wait to be able to see you for real, not just on FaceTime”, his eyes go all gooey, his voice soft: “me too, love. I so want to wrap you in my arms and never let go…”, she smiles sweetly: “soon, love, soon. We are both improving”, “aye…”. Julia doesn’t tell him, but she has a plan and she wants to keep it a surprise…

That evening, after her mother leaves with Ella, Julia gets up, grabs her walker and goes to her room’s door. Kim is guarding it: “can you please come in here for a moment, Constable Knowles?”, “of course madam”, She walks in.

Julia returns to her bed and lies down, with the bed in a semi-reclined position: “do you know where Dav- PS Budd’s room is?”, Kim nods: “yes, madam. I have visited him a few times”, Julia nods. She knows. David has told her: “you can call me Julia when we are in private, Kim, if you wish”, she seems surprised: “yes, of course, mad- Julia”, Julia smiles: “how far is David’s room?”, neither of them seems to notice (or be surprised at) the fact that Julia has used his first name again, “not far. Just a couple of hallways”.

Julia gets up again, wears her robe, and grabs her walker: “let’s go then”, Kim is flabbergasted: “excuse me?!?”, she smirks: “I have done that hallway 8 times, today. I can do it again”, “but you can’t! It’s not safe. There are no guards in that part of the hospital”, Julia smiles gently: “nobody will know it’s me. I am just another patient wobbling around the hallways with an old lady’s walker, Kim”, she shakes her head: “if this is what you wish to do, I need to plan a protection team to accompany you, madam”, she smirks: “that will ensure everybody knows it’s me”.

Kim is very conflicted, Julia can see that and presses on: “it’s after hours. The hallways are empty. We will likely meet no one. And nobody expects me to be wandering around. The only give away would be your presence. If you remove that very formal jacket and the earpiece and you help me wheel the IV along, you will just look like a nice lady helping her grandmother recover”, Kim chuckles: “you are way too young to be my grandmother, mad-, Julia”, she laughs: “glad you acknowledge that!”, they both laugh.

Then Julia presses on: “let’s go then”, Kim smiles: “you are not going to give up, are you?”, she nods: “I am going, with or without you. Preferably with you. I don’t know where David’s room is. And I really do need a hand wheeling the bloody IV line. Using the walker with only one good arm is already enough of a challenge”.

  
Julia was correct, the hallways are deserted. She slowly walks her way to David’s room while Kim walks next to her, pushing the stand with Julia’s IV with one hand and inconspicuously holding her other hand on her gun. Kim is worried: “are you ok madam?”. Julia is actually starting to tire and her leg and ribs are hurting, but she keeps marching along, drawing upon her well-practiced Montague determination: “I am fine, Kim, and don’t forget; I am Julia and you are a nice girl walking her grandmother”, they both chuckle.

They finally reach David’s room. The door is closed. Kim reaches for the handle: “PS Budd is here. I will be standing outside, Julia”, she smirks: “that will give me away, Kim. Nobody will know I am here if you are inside, instead”. Kim has to agree, she opens the door wide and holds it for Julia.

David is in his bed, dozing off with the television on, his cell phone in his hand, waiting for Julia to call him on FaceTime. When he hears the door opening, he opens his eyes and sees Kim standing by the door and Julia pushing her walker in. His jaw drops. His mouth opens into a wide gape. He is speechless. Julia giggles: “cat got your tongue, David?”, Kim chuckles: “hi Skip. Surprise for you this evening!”, then she looks at Julia: “I will be standing here, by the door”.

She puts her earpiece back in and stands on guard, facing the closed door, discretely looking away from the couple. Except that she soon realizes she can actually see the room behind her quite well, reflected in the shiny door panel.

Julia walks up to David’s bed smiling very sweetly: “hello…”, he whispers softly: “hi, there”. She reaches the bed, lets go of her walker, and holds herself onto the half-raised bed rail. She leans forward and gives him a long kiss. He happily returns it, his good hand lovingly stroking her cheek and hair. They keep kissing for a long time, both lost in the moment. Happy to be finally reunited. Then he stares at Kim, worried. She smiles sweetly and whispers: “she knows, David. Everybody knows. Ours is the world’s worst kept secret by now”.

He reaches for her hand on the bed rail and strokes her fingers: “it’s so good to be able to touch you, love”, she smiles sweetly, leans forward, and kisses him again, whispering: “gosh, I’ve missed this so much…”, he softly sighs in agreement, lovingly returning her kiss.

As she stands back up, she makes a grimace of pain. David is immediately worried: “you are in pain, love”, he points at the chair next to his bed: “you have walked a lot today, why don’t you sit down?”, she smiles sweetly. I can’t sit on hard chairs yet. I can only briefly lean against a soft and high surface, such as a hospital bed. Other than that, I still spend most of my time lying on the bed”. He nods. He knows. He slowly moves himself to one side: “why don’t you lie here with me for a cuddle love?”. She smiles sweetly: “I’d love that, but I need help”.

She turns towards the door: “Kim, can you please give me a hand?”, “of course madam… sorry… Julia”, she smiles: “I’d need you to lower the side rail of the bed all the way. There should be a button that needs to be pushed to release the lock”. Kim fiddles with the rail a bit until: “got it!”, she pushes it down to the ground.

Julia leans with her bum against the bed and uses her one good leg to pull her braced injured leg up onto the bed, pivoting onto her good hip, the way their physiotherapist Steve has taught her. She lies back against the pillow, right next to David. Their uninjured hands immediately find each other in a loving clasp, their fingers interlaced. She relaxes her back: “oh this feels so good. Thank you, Kim”.

Kim smiles and pulls the blanket up onto the couple. Then she pulls the rail back up and encloses Julia and David in the bed. Julia chuckles: “thank you Kim. Now I know I will be safe”, David laughs: “beds, ma’am. They can be quite the danger in untrained hands”, Julia smirks, frowning teasingly: “especially with you in them, Sergeant”.

Kim chuckles: “I will be in enough trouble for letting my principal escape her hospital room for a romantic rendezvous. I don’t need the added trouble of having her fall off the bed under my watch”, they all laugh.

Kim returns to the door: “Skip, if you keep an eye on her, I can stand in the bathroom. I can keep watch of the door from there and give you two privacy. Looking at that door is like staring into a mirror”, she winks and walks to the bathroom. David laughs: “ _very_ happy to watch over your principal for you, Kim, even though I am technically on paid sick leave these days. You know, been blown up on the job comes with perks…”, Julia scoffs and complains grouchily: “are the two of you done talking about me in the third person?”, they all laugh.

He smiles sweetly, raises his good right arm and puts it around her shoulders. She snuggles into his warm body, leaning her head into the crook of his neck, by his collarbone. She sighs contently and whispers: “I’ve missed this…”, he kisses her hair softly: “me too, my love, very much”. They cuddle in David’s bed for more than an hour, whispering soft words and exchanging many loving kisses.

Suddenly, they hear Kim’s loud voice: “they have realized you are not in your room, Julia. My earpiece is going crazy. It seems the whole hospital is on high alert. They are asking whether I know where you are. I am afraid I must answer that”, Julia replies: “yes, of course you should answer that, Kim”, “Lavender is safe, sir. Visiting a patient in room 304”.

Within minutes the door opens and no other than Anne Sampson, head of the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command, walks in. And she is very, very, pissed off: “what the fuck, Knowles!”, Kim stands to attention and stutters: “Com- Commander Sampson…”.

Julia makes her tough politician smile: “nice to see you too, Anne”, Anne turns towards her: “Home Secretary…”, “hello Anne, as you can see I am quite all right, thanks to Constable Knowles’ excellent job”, she scoffs: “how excellent can that be if her principal disappears from her hospital’s bed under her watch?”.

Julia sits up and looks at Anne sternly: “that was my decision. Constable Knowles only followed my directions and I expect no disciplinary action to come to her from this”, Anne hesitates. Julia continues, with tough authoritative voice: “I take full responsibility. I shan’t hear of any troubles to Constable Knowles, Anne, understood?”, Anne grumpily agrees: “yes madam…”.

Then Anne looks at Julia and David: “may I ask why you are in your PPO’s bed, madam?”, Julia scoffs: “it’s none of your business, really. David is not my PPO right now”, Anne raises her voice: “it _is_ my business if I get summoned here in the middle of the night because the Home Secretary has disappeared in thin air, mere weeks after an assassination attempt!”, Julia is pissed off too now, and she sounds it: “caused by leaks in one of your divisions and which I have survived only thanks to David’s quick and heroic actions!”. Well, that shuts Anne Sampson up…

Julia continues with softer voice: “I am sorry you had to come here tonight, Anne. I didn’t think they’d call you right away”, Anne lowers her voice too: “well, you must return to your room, madam. This wing of the hospital has not been secured”, Julia lies back against the pillow: “I am quite comfortable where I am, thank you very much”, David clears his throat and speaks shyly: “the lack of security _is_ a concern, though”, Julia looks at him and nods.

Then she turns to Anne: “may we have a minute?”, Anne scoffs: “what? Really? You must be joking…”, she is still really pissed off. Julia is not intimidated by that and speaks polite words, but with very stern voice that leaves Anne no choice: “only a few minutes, Anne… if you don’t mind…”, Anne Sampson walks outside and closes the door behind herself. David laughs: “I don’t think I have ever seen Commander Sampson THAT pissed off. And I did manage to piss her off a fair bit in the past”, Kim chuckles: “yea, you are quite good at it, Skip. Thanks for covering my arse, Julia. Much appreciated”, then she walks out too, leaving them alone in the room.

David looks at Julia serious now: “you can’t stay here, Julia. It’s not safe”, she nods: “I know… I need to go back to my room”, he sighs: “it was so nice to see you, love. I’ll miss you even more now…”, she smiles sweetly: “I can’t stay in an unguarded part of the hospital but nothing prevents you from being in the guarded area”, he looks at her surprised: “you mean… me moving there?”, she nods, smiling sweetly: “my room is big. They can easily fit a second bed there”.

“But how? I can’t walk yet…”, she chuckles: “you are not thinking straight love. Anne’s tirade must have shut down your neurons”, he laughs: “well, she is my boss, after all, and she can still open a misconduct inquiry now that she knows about us”, Julia makes a smart-arse smug smile: “we’ll see about that…”.

Then she explains: “hospital beds are on wheels. They can easily move us back to my room together right now”, then she looks into his eyes softly: “but only if you want it too, love. That’s why I’ve asked Anne to leave. I wanted to check with you before I gave her the idea”, he smiles sweetly: “of course I want to. I am so happy you thought of that, while my neurons were shut down by the power dynamics here”, he chuckles and continues: “while yours were all fired up by the same dynamics”.

She laughs: “you do know me well, don’t you?”, he gives her a soft kiss: “doing my best, ma’am…”. They kiss again, then Julia sends a text to Kim’s cell phone. She receives it and turns to Anne: “they are ready, madam”, she smirks: “finally, her majesty…”.

Anne Sampson and Kim walk back into the room. Julia explains their idea. Anne is still pissed off: “what? Move him there?”, Julia makes a fake sweet smile: “so sorry about the trouble, Anne, but it won’t take long at all”, then she adds sternly: “if the hospital staff is notified in a timely fashion, instead of standing there bickering. It seems timely responses to situations are not your forte, Anne, are they?”, she is obviously alluding to the delayed response to the Thornton Circus shooting that caused Julia to want to reassign the case to the secret services”, Anne is silenced again. She turns around: “I will tend to that right now”. She leaves the room.

David chuckles: “gosh, you really know how to play tough, Julia”, she smiles at him sweetly: “now that you know my best kept secret, you can consider yourself forewarned, David”, then she leans in and gives him a tender kiss.

Kim is watching smiling. She didn’t think she’d ever see her principal so relaxed and David so happy. She begins collecting David’s things around the room and the bathroom and putting them in a carry-on she finds in the locker. David notices that: “thanks, Kim”, she smiles: “happy to help, Sarge”.

A nurse walks in, followed by Anne: “I hear a move is being requested”, Julia nods: “I’d need something else first, though”, Anne scoffs, the nurse approaches. Julia points at her IV bag: “that has run out and I am starting to feel a fair bit of pain…”, “of course madam, I will be back quickly”, the nurse leaves. David looks at Julia very concerned: “I hadn’t noticed that. How are you feeling, love?” she smiles sweetly and puts her hand on his: “it’s not that bad, yet, don’t worry, David”, he nods but he still looks worried.

Anne is watching them curiously. She had no idea these two were a couple and it is quite obvious this is not a new thing. A misconduct investigation is in order. That may finally get Julia Montague off her back. She says nothing though. The nurse returns and replaces Julia’s empty IV bag. Then a second nurse walks in: “I am here to help with the move. Are we all already?”, Kim nods: “yup. All done”, and she puts David’s bag at the feet of the bed.

Anne intervenes and takes the lead: “we need to do this safely, I will walk 2 meters in front of the bed and Constable Knowles will guard the rear, walking 2 meters behind. We will pretend to be members of the public, but we will both keep our hands on our guns at all times”, then she talks to Julia directly: “you should lie down in the bed, madam, and we will cover you with the sheet, so that people won’t know it’s you”,

Julia has to agree it’s not a bad idea. She slides down into the bed. So does David. Slowly and carefully. Moving with a broken pelvis is no piece of cake. They lie side by side. Anne covers them with the sheet. Their hands find one another again. The nurses unlock the wheels and begin moving the bed. As they are traveling along the hospital’s hallways, Julia and David turn their heads and smile at each other sweetly, under the bed sheets.

Back in Julia’s room she requests their two beds to be placed side by side, in such a way that the injured sides of their bodies are on the outside and their good sides are close to each other. The bed side rails are lowered so that she can move in between beds. She does not move, though. She remains next to David, on his bed. Anne is watching, still thinking about how to use this new dynamic to her advantage.

Now that Julia is safely back in the guarded area of the hospital, Kim can resume her night guarding outside of the bedroom’s door and Anne can finally leave: “goodbye Home Secretary”, Julia stops her politely: “Anne… one more thing before you leave, if you don’t mind…”, she makes a fake smile: “of course, Home Secretary”.

Julia continues with very stern voice: “it’s entirely up to you how you wish to proceed now. I should just inform you that I have downloaded the PPO’s contract and code of conduct from your office’s web site and read it very carefully. As you may know, before entering politics, I was a criminal barrister for many years, and I do know how to interpret legal language. Well, that specific contract only says that a PPO is to keep a professional, formal, and proper working relationships with their principal _on the job_. I could find nothing about a PPO’s private activities after work. I am saying this in case you were considering opening a professional misconduct investigation on David’s and my relationship prior to the St Matthews College attack”, Commander Anne Sampson is stunned.

Julia continues: “I have talked to a friend who is one of England’s top lawyers on workplace misconduct cases. I have asked him to read the contract and code of conduct and he agrees with me that after hours’ relationships are not covered. Instead, he thinks that threatening the family of a subordinate member of your police force to make him illegally spy on the UK’s Home Secretary, is a prosecutable criminal offence”, Julia pauses briefly, for effect, then she concludes: “my friend has also agreed to represent us in court should you elect to pursue this matter further”.

Anne stares at her: “are you threatening me, Home Secretary?”, Julia makes a very fake sweet smile: “merely reminding you of the regulations of your own office and details of a contract you should be rather familiar with, Anne”, Anne Sampson nods: “good night Home Secretary… Budd…”, and leaves.

David looks at Julia in awe: “you are amazing, my love. That was brilliant”, she chuckles: “we can easily agree on that”, then she gives him a long kiss. 

That night she remains in his bed, cuddled up with him. They both sleep better than they ever have since the explosion. Like every night since she roused from her medically induced coma, Julia is repeatedly woken up by nightmares, but she quickly goes back to sleep, feeling safe in his embrace.


	4. Roommates…

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that Julia and David are reunited, they can continue to recover together. They can also learn about each other...

As usual, the morning after Julia’s escapade when they first arrive to the hospital their mothers go to David’s room. They are surprised to find no bed and no signs of David there. Even his things are gone. They inquire at the nurse station. The nurse checks in the computer: “he has been moved to a different room, madam, room 289”, Frances chuckles: “it’s Julia’s…”.

As they walk there Ella laughs: “I am sure we are going to hear an interesting story”. And they sure do.

When they walk in, they find the two of them still in the same bed, eating their breakfasts together. They are helping each other, coordinating their two good arms (one each) to cut their sausages. Frances walks in first: “that’s one fine example of effective team work”, Julia and David both giggle.

David is radiant. Julia looks the happiest she has been since the explosion: “good morning mother, good morning Ella, hope you had a good night”, Ella chuckles: “not as fun as yours, apparently”, they all laugh, then David and Julia tell their mothers about last night. Frances laughs: “yup, that’s my Julia. Now, imagine her as a rebellious teenager. Quite the handful…”.

David laughs loudly. She swats at his arm playfully: “hey, I never did say you could laugh at me like that!”, Ella giggles: “and I do have a few stories about your teen years, Davy…”, he feigns a very concerned face: “I’d better stop laughing then, before the darkest secrets of my youth are made public”.

After their breakfast their physiotherapist Steve walks in and sees them in the same bed: “well, that explains the back-to-back appointments in the same room. I was wondering…”. He is not too surprised by the development. The two of them have been FaceTiming into each other’s appointments every day.

While the physiotherapy sessions are on, the two mothers move to the room next door and sit on the sofa, chatting amicably.

Julia smiles at Steve: “I’d ask that you keep this confidential, Steve, until we are ready to go public. Our jobs complicate everything…”, David murmurs: “nothing complicates my job…”, Steve smiles at Julia: “I have already been doing that. Don’t worry, I won’t sell your story to the press”, David winks: “thanks mate, I appreciate that”, Steve approaches the bed: “I couldn’t even if I wanted to. I’d lose my job if I did. The moment I took you on as my patient, Julia, they made me sign a rather strict confidentiality agreement. I can’t even say you are a patient in this hospital, let alone talk about your private life”.

Then he smiles: “let’s start with you. Can you move to the edge of your bed so that I can see that hand?”, she scuttles over and raises her casted wrist. Steve moves her fingers: “these are very improved. Not as swollen as they were in the beginning. When they remove this cast later today you will be able to begin exercising your wrist”. He grabs her other, good hand: “let me show you a few movements you can try on your own, until tomorrow’s appointment. Make sure you don’t put any weight on it, though, you especially mustn’t hold yourself up onto this wrist when you use the walker”.

Then he has her get off the bed and walk around the room with her walker: “very good. Let’s go for a walk in the hallway, Julia. I hear you have done lots of practice yesterday”, she laughs. Steve continues: “since you are doing so well on flat surfaces, let’s walk to the exercise room and try the sloping treadmill there”, then Steve turns towards David: “hope you don’t mind my stealing your girlfriend for a bit, mate”, David makes a very happy smile. It’s the first time someone refers to Julia as his girlfriend and he loves it. Julia smiles too. She also looks happy.

After Julia, it’s David’s turn. Steve informs him that the cast on his arm will also be removed later in the day. Then he has David do breathing and coughing exercises with a spirometer, for the lung that collapsed due to the blast: “excellent, this is fully recovered now”, David and Julia both make happy grins.

Then Steve helps him get off the bed and take a few steps around the room with the walker. As he does that Julia cheers him on. She has done it before, on FaceTime, but now that she is physically in the room, David seems to find extra energy and walks a lot more quickly. Steve laughs: take it easy mate, if you keep showing off to your girlfriend you will end up injuring yourself again”, David feigns innocence: “me showing off?”, Julia scoffs: “always…”, they all laugh.

At lunch time the mothers go off the hospital, as they always do, while David and Julia have their hospital lunch together. David looks at her a bit uneasy: “love, I have texted Vicky and asked her to come by when she has a break. She should know of us before she brings the children on Friday”, she smiles: “yes of course, that’s fair enough”.

Julia picks up her work cell phone and sends a text. Tom walks in: “did you need me, madam?”, she smiles: “yes, Constable Fenton, can you please show me the list of visitors approved for this room?”, he hands her the tablet. She adds Nurse Victoria (Vicky) Budd, Ella Budd Jr, and Charlie Budd to the list. Then she shows it to David: “anybody else?”, he shakes his head: “not really”, she smiles and hands the tablet back to Tom: “thank you Tom, can you please see that all security checks are cleared for these other people?”, “of course madam, as you wish”.

Julia smiles at Tom: “when we are in private you can call me Julia, Tom. You are David’s friend, after all”, Tom replies smiling: “of course madam”, David chuckles, Tom laughs, blushed: “sorry, I should have said: of course, Julia…”, then he leaves the room.

Then Julia makes a few work-related calls, to set up appointments with people she needs to meet.

A few minutes later, the nurse picks up their lunch trays and shuts the blinds, leaving only a small lamp on: “enough work for now Ms. Montague, you need to rest. Your concussion…”, Julia nods: “I will, don’t worry”, they lie down, David wraps his good arm around her and she leans her head in the crook of his neck, hugging him with her injured arm, her plaster cast on his chest. She closes her eyes and relaxes. She is asleep within seconds. She really does need the rest.

She has been asleep for less than an hour when the door opens quietly. Vicky walks in in her nurse uniform and sees them in that very cuddly position. She approaches the bed and whispers to David: “so this is why you have been moved here, eh?”, he nods: “aye Vic, sorry you are learning it this way. I had planned to tell you”, she scoffs: “it’s none of my business, really. We are separated, after all”.

Julia is listening. She has heard Vicky walk in. She raises her head and stretches her good arm: “hello, I’m Julia”, Vicky shakes her hand and speaks with stern voice: “I know…”, then she realizes she is being rude: “sorry… of course I know. You are famous. I’m Vicky. Nice to meet you”.

Julia can sense the tension and decides to give them privacy so that they can talk freely. She scuttles to the edge of the bed, gets up, wears her robe, grabs her walker, and moves to the room next door.

She wants to lie on the sofa but she realizes it’s too low down. She needs help to lower herself onto it. She calls towards the room: “David, can you please push the button to call the nurse? I need help”, Vicky approaches: “I am a nurse, I can help you, Julia”, she helps her onto the sofa, puts a few pillows behind her back, and wraps a blanket around her. Julia smiles: “thanks”, Vicky smiles too, then she walks back to David.

As she approaches his bed she hisses: “what the fuck, Dave… _that_ woman?!?”, David replies with harsh voice: “it really is none of your business, Vic”, she tries to keep calm but she can’t help raising her voice: “none of my business? What will you tell the children?”.

He is a bit taken aback by her reaction but he manages to keep calm: “the children already know. I have introduced them to Julia on FaceTime”, Vicky sneers: “not quite the same thing, isn’t it? And do they know who she is? Do they know hordes of journalists will be going after them because daddy is shagging the Home Secretary? A Tory whore who has repeatedly advocated for the war that has destroyed their family?”.

David is angry now. He raises his voice: “don’t call her that, Vic, I won’t tolerate it”, she scoffs: “why not? Why do you think she is with you? Because she is all gooey and in love with her Labor PPO?” David answers quietly: “aye, that’s what she says”.

Vicky sneers: “and you actually believe her? Fuck, you are so delusional! Life is not a fairy tale, Dave. This is going nowhere. She will get tired of you and she will dump you as soon as she learns how messed up you are, because of the war she has sent you to! And in the meanwhile, you are going to disrupt our children’s lives. Bloody hell, Dave, what were you thinking? Couldn’t you keep it in your pants?!?”.

He tries really hard to remain calm: “this is the real deal, Vicky. Julia and I are serious and we will take every measure to shelter the children. Her PR team will come by tomorrow and…”, Vicky sighs: “PR team? Is that what our children are to you now, just a PR nuisance?”, David is angry now: “Vic, you know how much I care about the children!”, she nods: “I do, sorry, that was unfair. Well, I really can’t continue this right now. I need to get back to work”.

David nods: “we need to talk more, obviously. Can you come by after your shift?”, “not today, Dave, I need to pick up the children. My mother was not available today. Maybe tomorrow, after my morning shift…”.

Then she walks back to Julia and utters: “I am leaving. I can help you get up if you wish to return to your bed”, Julia smiles: “thank you Vicky, I do need help. My leg is not strong enough to get me up from a low sofa yet”, Vicky nods: “yes, you need to take it easy for a while”.

Julia looks at her: “would you have a minute?”, Vicky nods. Julia smiles politely and points at the armchair, Vicky sits down, Julia goes straight to the point: “I’ve heard you. I did not mean to but you were both talking quite loudly”, Vicky is embarrassed now: “sorry for calling you… I had no right…”.

Julia interrupts, still smiling and keeping her cool: “I understand why you are so upset, Vicky. Your concerns are very valid. I can promise I will do all that is necessary to keep your children out of the spotlight. Would you be able to join our meeting with my PR team tomorrow? If you let me know a time that works for you I can reschedule it to make sure you can be present”.

Vicky is taken aback by this opening. She stutters: “y- yes… well… sure… at this time would work well. I have a two-hour break between shifts tomorrow”,

Julia nods: “very well, I will have them come over then. I will also order take-away food so that you and the team can have your lunches. Is Chinese OK?”, Vicky nods and gets up to leave: “yes, that’s fine, thanks”.

Julia smiles: “I’d still need help getting up…”, Vicky smiles: “of course”, she helps her up and Julia returns to the bedroom with her walker.

She climbs back on the bed and smiles at David: “Vicky will join the meeting with the PR team tomorrow. She has every right to be concerned and she should know the measures we will take to protect your children”, David looks surprised, she explains: “I think involving her is the best way to address her concerns. It’s only fair, really”.

He looks rather contrite now: “I am sorry about that, love. I know you could hear it all”, she smiles sweetly: “don’t worry. I understand. Roger and I can do worse than that”.

He stretches his arm towards her and smiles sweetly. She moves back to his bed. He wraps her in his good arm. She snuggles up with him again, laying her head in the crook of his neck, hugging his chest, then she murmurs: “Vicky is right about the children, but not about us. I won’t get tired of you, David…”, she raises her head up. They kiss. A long kiss. He smiles sweetly: “I am happy you’d say that, because I am in this for the long haul, love”, she kisses him again: “so am I…”.

Not long after Vicky’s visit, a nurse walks in: “I am here to remove your two arm casts as well as replace both of your bandages and apply the burn and scar ointment”. She moves close to Julia: “madam, you should move to your bed so that I can reach you more easily and have room to manoeuvre”.

Julia nods and moves, then the nurse goes to a curtain and begins pulling it, to enclose Julia’s bed and provide privacy. Julia stops her with a polite smile: “that won’t be necessary, nurse”, the nurse seems surprised but goes along with the request: “as you wish, madam”, and pushes the curtain back.

The nurse uses a small electric saw to cut the plaster cast off Julia’s wrist. Then she gently removes the cast and the cotton underneath. The burned skin is revealed. It is very red and the scar of the surgery that realigned her bones is quite prominent.

Julia and David are watching intently. The nurse gently cleans the skin that was under the cast with a wet wipe and smiles: “with time your skin will acquire a more natural color and this scar will become much less visible”. After the wrist cast, she removes also the brace from Julia’s leg.

Then Julia strips down completely and the nurse slowly and gently unwraps her bandages. When she gets to the bandages directly in contact with the skin she becomes very, very slow, wetting the skin with a spray bottle to facilitate the gentle removal of the gauzes. Even so, as the last bandages and gauzes are peeled off her skin, Julia grimaces in pain.

The burns cover the right side of Julia’s abdomen and the sides of her right leg and arm. The right side of her head, where her hair has been shaved back, is burned too, even though not as badly, mostly close to her hairline, largely sparing her face. Throughout her body, the burned skin is growing back, but it is still very thin, very red, and rough-looking.

A very long and still bright red scar is also noticeable along the side of her right leg, where she has received the femur reconstruction and hip replacement surgeries. There are also several cuts, caused by flying fragments of the bomb and/or the stage. Those are almost completely healed, some leaving visible scars.

David has sat up in his bed and is watching intently, his eyes very sad. She looks at him: “rather ghastly eh?”, he shakes his head: “do they hurt?”, she smiles softly: “some, but the pain medications do help… and it is getting better”.

He looks very emotional: “had I done my job better…”, she smiles sweetly: “we have been there, love. You couldn’t prevent this and with your actions you have saved my life and protected me from much worse injuries. Stop blaming yourself, please”.

He nods, but doesn’t answer because of a lump in his throat. Tears are falling down his cheeks. She can see that, she looks at him very sweetly and whispers: “it’s not your fault. You did your best…”, then she tries to lighten the mood: “now we can have a scar contest. See who has the most”, he nods with a soft smile, still weeping.

Meanwhile, the nurse applies generous amounts of a scar and burn healing and disinfectant ointment, then applies new bandages, reinstalls the brace to her right leg, and helps Julia put on her knickers and hospital gown.

Then she turns to David and moves to pull the curtain. Like Julia, he stops her: “please, leave that open”. The nurse nods, then she removes his arm cast too and reveals his surgical scar and burned skin. Then the nurse helps him strip naked, with only the bandages covering part of his body.

She then removes all bandages and gauzes. The left side and dorsal parts of his body are very affected, especially his leg, arm, and bum cheek. His back was largely protected by his ballistic vest.

Like Julia, the burns hurt the most when the last layer of bandages is carefully removed. They are more extensive and the skin is more damaged than Julia’s. The very long red scar of his pelvic surgery is also quite visible on his bum cheek.

Now it’s her turn to cry. He can see that and whispers: “don’t cry, my love”, she smiles sadly: “it’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have agreed to a public speech in such an unsecured location, so shortly after the shooting. I should have listened to your advice against that, even when Craddock approved it”, she keeps weeping: “I am so sorry, love. You are so hurt. All to protect me. I should have died and you should not be hurt”.

He reaches with his arm across the bed and whispers very softly: “don’t say that, love. I don’t know what I would do if you died in the explosion. I’d much rather be injured than contemplating a life without you”.

She reaches his good hand with hers and they hold hands, looking at each other sweetly, both crying.

Meanwhile the nurse remains discreetly quiet, applying the ointment and new bandages. Finally, she helps David wear a hospital gown, then she talks to both of them: “all done, both of your burns are healing well. When in a week we remove these bandages, the dermatologist and burn specialist will be present to assess whether we can leave your skin uncovered”.

The rest of the day is rather busy. Julia has her usual work-related visitors. Her personal secretary and Mike Travis show up together, bringing several documents on a memory stick for Julia to view with her laptop.

As they walk in they don’t look surprised to find David there. Julia smirks: “Anne is a worse gossip than my aunt Janette”, Mike smiles: “she called me last night to let me know you were safely back in your room. You had a bit of an adventure, I gather…”, the tone is light and he is laughing.

Then he turns serious: “you will need to talk to the PR team, Julia, to decide how to handle this. It will cause quite the media storm…”, she nods: “I know... I have already emailed them. They will come by tomorrow”, Mike nods: “the acting PM is very concerned. The party does not need any more scandals”.

Julia scoffs: “how is my private life a scandal even remotely comparable to collusion with terrorists and the organized crime, corruption, sexual assault, drug addiction, financial impropriety and all of John Vosler’s shit (the former PM)?”, Mike nods: “I agree with you, but the public will respond to how this is presented by the press and we know how those vultures will jump on it…”, she nods: “let’s see what the PR team says tomorrow. I have a few ideas of my own…”.

David is listening. He knew this wouldn’t be easy and he is pleased to see Julia being so combative. He just hopes she doesn’t regret the decision of making their relationship known.

Mike looks at David and Julia, sitting side by side on his bed. He hesitates a bit, then: “Julia, we are to talk about matters that are covered by state secrecy…”, David smiles: “I understand that. Don’t worry, I won’t listen”. He puts Bluetooth headphones on, turns on the TV, and chooses an old film on Netflix, then he speaks loudly: “the volume is high I can’t hear anything, I promise”, Julia smiles sweetly, pulls one of the headphones off and whispers close to his ear: “no need to shout, love. We can hear…”, he chuckles and puts the headphone back on.

She moves to her bed to be closer to Mike and the two of them go over various files, deliberating on important public safety issues. After those visitors, Julia works some more, going over her email and reading and annotating various documents Mike has brought her.

David’s film ends. He takes his headphones off: “love, you have been working hard. Don’t forget you need to rest your brain”, she smiles sweetly: “getting there. Just a few more minutes”, she does look rather tired and David is quite concerned.

Two hours later, she is still working. The nurse walks in with their dinner trays: “no more work, madam. It’s time for dinner and for you to rest”, Julia nods: “one last email and I am done”, David smiles: “my dear workaholic, dinner will get cold…”, she clicks on send, closes her laptop, and slowly moves to his bed, to sit by him and have their dinner together.

She does look very tired. She tries to act strong, but her face shows otherwise. David gives her a soft kiss: “now dinner then rest, love. No more work”, she sighs, acting more annoyed than she actually is: “stop talking like my mother, David”, he chuckles: “let’s eat now”.

After dinner, they cuddle up. He wraps her in his good arm and Julia leans with her head in the crook of his neck, her injured arm on his chest. He chooses another film on TV and they watch it together, the volume very low, to allow her brain to rest.

Suddenly, she raises her head and whispers: “I feel dizzy… very diz…”, then her head drops down to his chest, passed out. David immediately pushes the emergency button. He is holding her head up: “love, love, can you hear me?”, she murmurs something unintelligible, her eyes still closed.

The nurse rushes in and checks her blood pressure: “it’s rather low. I feared this, she worked too hard today”, a doctor walks in, responding to the emergency call too.

In that moment, Julia regains consciousness and begins vomiting on David. The nurse rushes over with a towel. The doctor takes a syringe from the nurse’s cart: “I am going to administer an antiemetic for the vomit, Julia, but you really need to rest. This is your concussion acting up. I had warned you against overstimulating your brain”.

After the injection, the doctor explains: “we are going to do an MRI now. If your brain is swelling up again, we may need to induce another coma”.

Julia is very tired-looking and pale now, still leaning against David. She notices the stain of her vomit on the sheet and his bandages: “I am so sorry love…”. Still holding her in his good arm he softly kisses her hair: “don’t worry about that, love. But do rest now”.

The nurse helps Julia move to her own bed, then they wheel her off for the MRI. In the meanwhile, the nurse changes David’s bed linen and replaces his soiled bandages. He hardly notices that. He is looking really worried now.

An hour later, Julia is returned to their room and her bed is set up next to David’s again. She looks a bit better, but she is still rather pale and tired-looking.

The doctor walks in: “the news is good. There is no swelling, but your symptoms clearly indicate some degree of brain suffering. I will administer a sedative now. It’s a rather high dose, to ensure you sleep several hours and rest your brain. I’d advise that you cancel any appointments you may have for tomorrow morning. You will experience drowsiness then”.

Julia nods. I’d need a moment, then. She takes her laptop and sends an email to her secretary: ‘reschedule all tomorrow meetings to other days. Retain only meeting with PR team -JM’, then she turns to the doctor: “I am ready”, the doctor gives her the injection and leaves the room.

Julia slowly moves to David’s bed and lies down next to him. He gives her a tender kiss: “good night my love”, she snuggles into his body and murmurs: “good night love”. Within minutes she is asleep. She sleeps through the night well into the morning.

The next morning Frances and Ella find Julia still deeply asleep, snuggled against David. Whispering to avoid waking Julia, he explains the events of the previous night: “I am sorry about that. In the future, I will be more forceful to make sure she gets enough rest”.

Frances smiles: “good luck with that. Julia is a very hard worker”, he nods: “aye and that’s one reason for she is so accomplished, but she needs to slow down now if she wants to be able to return to her very successful career full time”.

Frances looks at him for a bit, pondering, then asks: “so it doesn’t bother you that your girlfriend would have such a successful career and prominent public role?”, he shakes his head: “I am proud of her achievements and I have chosen to be by her side, and always support her in anything she may wish to pursue”.

Frances smiles: “you don’t know how happy I am to hear you say that. Julia has had wonderful success in her career but that has come at the cost of a difficult love life. Men who accept women having more power than them are not common. Honestly, I actually can’t think of any…”.

David smiles: “well, here I am. I don’t have any issues with the fact that she is more powerful than me. I admire her bright mind and her success. And I am happy to be allowed into her soft and caring side, the one she shows only to me, in the end of her long work day”.

He smiles sweetly, watching Julia laying against him and adds: “she is just wonderful, as a person, as a professional, and as a girlfriend”. Frances smiles too, happy that her daughter has finally found the man for her.

Then he makes a knowing smirk and whispers: “you can open your eyes, love. I know you are awake”, she chuckles: “how would you know?”, he smirks: “you had stopped snoring”, she raises her head: “me, snoring?!?!?”, he laughs: “aye, you indeed, love”.

She looks at him softly: “did you really mean those things?”, he gives her a tender kiss: “every word…”, she kisses him, then teases: “I will take note of those words and remind them to you the next time we disagree on something”, he chuckles: “oi, the curse of loving a barrister turned politician…”, she kisses him again and whispers: “who doesn’t deserve you…”.

He seems surprised at such public declaration. He leans towards her lips and they kiss again. A very long kiss. Their mothers are watching, smiling sweetly.


	5. Planning a future together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Julia and David recover together, they begin plans for their future together.

The morning after being ill because she worked too hard, Julia keeps drifting on and off sleep for a few more hours. The doctor was correct, the effects of the sedative last many hours. By the time she is fully awake, it is already late morning. She looks much better than yesterday. Rested and full of energy.

At lunch time Ella and Frances leave: “after lunch we will go for a walk at the shopping center. We will see you back here after your meeting”. Julia and David have their hospital lunch, then there is a knock on the door. The new PPO who is replacing David walks in: “your delivery is here, madam”, he puts several containers with Chinese food on the table”.

Shortly after that the 3 members of Julia’s PR team and Vicky walk in. Vicky is in her nurse uniform. Julia smiles: “perfect timing, the food has just arrived and is still warm. Do help yourself”, they all fill their plates and sit on chairs around their joined beds. Julia and David are each sitting in their own bed, in a semi-reclined position. Julia has a laptop on her overbed tray table.

Julia leads the meeting, very professionally and competently, clearly in her own element: “thank you all for being here today. As you know, neither I nor David are very mobile, so we appreciate you taking the time to come all the way here”, then her face goes very sad. Her eyes wet: “I’d like to open this meeting with a moment of remembrance of my former PR adviser Tahir Mahmood. He was a clever young man with a bright future, had his life not been taken much too soon by the St Matthews College’s terrorist attack”. They all remain quiet for a while.

Julia wipes a tear, sighs deeply, then turns towards the head of the PR team and begins the meeting: “Cheryl, today’s agenda has two main points. One is assessment and limitation strategies of the political impact of my and David’s relationship. The other and most important point is that of designing a strategy that will shelter David’s children from unwanted press or public attention. The latter is point number one for today’s agenda”.

Then she turns to Vicky: “Nurse Victoria Budd is David’s wife and the mother of the children”, Vicky smiles: “hello… I’m Vicky… and I should specify that even if technically we are still married, David and I are separated…”, Cheryl smiles: “nice to meet you Vicky. I am sure the plan we have drafted will ease your concerns about your children”.

In that moment, the door opens and a man in expensive-looking suit and tie walks in. Julia smiles: “hello James, please come in, the food is over there”, as James fills his plate she continues: “perfect timing, we were just now starting to talk about the children”, then she turns towards the others: “James is a lawyer and an old friend. We attended Law school together a million years ago”.

David chuckles. She turns towards him with a playful smirk: “this is when you say something nice and flattering to the effect that I am still very young, not laugh behind my back”, he chuckles again: “of course love, incredibly young…”, they all laugh.

Then Julia turns to James: “James and I have had a couple of phone conversations and he has prepared some paperwork for legal actions we have discussed”, then she turns to Cheryl: “but I’d like to hear your plan, first, in case James and I have missed something”.

Cheryl opens her laptop and hands out several print outs: “for the minors, we have discussed a few points, some of which do require legal action. So let’s begin with those: we recommend filing a court injunction against everyone for several actions: contacting the children by any means, approaching them, talking to them, singling them out, pointing at them, and publishing or posting any text, images or video material on them in any format, hard copy or electronic, anywhere in the world”, Julia makes a very happy smile: “exactly what James and I thought”.

Vicky looks confused and so does David. He externalizes it: “sorry, but I am not sure what that means”, James explains: “essentially, we are making it a criminal offence to make any contacts and publish anything at all on your children, by the press or any member of the public. I have all of the paperwork here. It requires the signatures of the parents. I’m happy to leave it with you so that you can read it and ask any questions before you sign it”, then he hands a copy to Cheryl: “and I’d be happy to make any changes to the wording you may wish to suggest”.

Julia thanks James, then she continues chairing the meeting: “Cheryl, what other points did you have in your plan with regards to legal actions?”, Cheryl continues: “another legal action we recommend is essentially the same with respect to Mrs. Victoria Budd. We could extend this to any other adult who is in frequent contact with the children. For example, the grandparents or a nanny”.

Julia nods: “will that work?”, James answers: “because Mrs. Budd is not a minor, some members of the press may violate the injunction knowing the legal implications are not as serious”, Cheryl nods: “we have proceeded this way in other instances, and the press shied away from publishing about the adult we were protecting with the injunction. So, I think this second injunction is worth pursuing”, Vicky smiles shyly, clearly not at ease with the situation: “thank you, I appreciate your effort”, James smiles: “happy to help. I have prepared that paperwork too. I will leave it with you”.

Julia continues leading the meeting: “any other legal actions, Cheryl?”, Cheryl smiles shyly now. She looks directly at Julia: “well, we could do a similar injunction against Mrs. Budd”, Julia shakes her head: “I know, but I won’t do it”, Vicky seems confused: “why against me. Whatever for?”, David is confused too: “I don’t understand this either”.

Julia is embarrassed now. James can see that and steps in. He looks at Vicky: “to prevent you from selling their story to the press. They would _love_ to publish the story of the disgruntled wronged wife and they would pay very well for it”.

Vicky looks directly at Julia now: “I would never do that”, Julia nods: “which is why I won’t go along with this specific piece of legal advice. I really hope you and I can develop a positive relationship, Vicky”, Vicky nods: “I appreciate that. It’d certainly make things easier for the children”, Julia smiles softly: “exactly…”.

Julia turns towards Cheryl: “what else did you have with regards to the children?”, Cheryl looks into her laptop: “the rest of the points are about their security, pages 2 and 3 in the handout”. David’s attention peaks. Vicky is very worried now: “security? Are they in danger?”, David replies, clearly in his element now: “that’s highly unlikely. Now that the terrorist and organized crime organization that was after Julia and me has been dismantled, the risk level has been reduced to very low”.

Cheryl continues: “because of Mr. Budd’s relationship with the Home Secretary, the children are entitled to a PPO”. Vicky looks worried again: “and won’t having a PPO cause psychological issues? Maybe teasing from their friends? Charlie is a sensitive boy, you know that David…”.

David smiles and explains: “PPOs who work with children are especially trained to be inconspicuous and to develop friendly relationships with the minors. They even take Child Psychology courses. There are several excellent agents with that training, Vic, I will make sure whoever is assigned to our children is top notch”.

Cheryl nods: “we have screened several CVs and prepared a short list. It’s in page 3 of the handout. Those are all individuals who have been PPOs for young children before, have developed excellent relationships with the children, have very strong references from their previous protégées, and know how to do their job discretely and effectively”.

David is looking at the list, smiling happily: “I know all of them. They are all excellent and very experienced PPOs”, Julia smiles: “you should choose those you think are top, David, then we should organize interviews with you and Vicky. I will make sure the children are assigned the PPO of your choice”, David nods: “I will also talk to some of my colleagues for their opinion, then I will prepare a shortlist for the interviews”, Cheryl nods: “excellent, I can organize those”. Vicky seems more relaxed now.

Julia continues leading the meeting: “what else Cheryl?”, Cheryl continues: “we will talk to the headmaster of the children’s schools about both, security and protection from the press. We have already looked into those schools’ regulations and they both ban the press from any locations within the school buildings and the school grounds. So that should be easy. We essentially need to alert them to the possibility of journalists sneaking around and ensure they enforce those regulations. The PPO will be an asset in that regard because the school personnel can refer any concerns to them”.

Then Cheryl looks at Vicky and David: “we’d need a list of all other locations where the children spend time. Sport associations, playgrounds, church, etcetera so that we can contact the people in charge and inform them of the injunction and the PPO. They just need to be on the lookout for any suspicious activity and notify the PPO so that they can intervene”, David nods: “yes Vic and I can prepare that list”.

Cheryl smiles: “very good. At some point, we’d also like to organize a meeting with close family members and friends the children see regularly. We find that informing them of the injunction and the PPO is a way to ensure the children are sheltered from any surprises or tension during their visits”, Vicky nods: “I will write that list and let those people know they will be contacted”, Cheryl smiles politely: “without worrying them. We will go very easy on them. I hope you believe us, Vicky. We are here to help, not to scare anyone”.

Vicky nods: “I really appreciate that, Cheryl”, then she looks at her watch: “is there anything else about the children? I need to be back at work in 10 minutes”.

Cheryl shakes her head: “nothing else. Here is my business card. It lists my personal cell phone number. Feel free to contact me with any questions at all”, She hands a card to everyone, including James.

Julia smiles gently: “thank you very much for attending the meeting Vicky. I appreciate you using your break time for this. Just like Cheryl, do not hesitate to contact me with any questions”, she takes out her ministerial business card with her work cell phone number and handwrites on it. Then she hands it to Vick: “those are my private numbers: home and cell phone”. Vicky smiles and gets up: “thank you all, I am grateful you are putting so much effort into protecting our children”.

Then she turns to David and Julia: “would it be OK if I came by this evening after my turn? I am sure I will have questions then. And the children are with my mother tonight”, Julia smiles: “of course. You do know the way”, Vicky smiles and leaves.

Julia turns back to her PR team: “thank you very much for your excellent work”, Cheryl smiles: “happy to help, madam. Next, we should discuss the political implications of your relationship”.

David intervenes with polite but firm voice: “is this going to take long? This meeting has already been almost two hours long and Julia and I need rest. We both suffered concussions and cannot overexert our brains for too long”, James smiles: “we already have a meeting scheduled for tomorrow at the same time. Maybe we can postpone this discussion to tomorrow?”, Cheryl smiles: “not a problem. We do have several additional items for discussion, and this is a good point to break the agenda”.

Julia smiles gently: “sounds good. I will make sure we have food for your lunch even tomorrow. Do you like Italian?”, James smiles: Who doesn’t?”, Cheryl and the other members of the PR team all nod. Julia smiles: “Italian be, then. We can adjourn our meeting now. Cheryl, do pick up the rest of the food, please, there’s enough for another meal. It’d be a pity to waste it”, Cheryl smiles: “thanks Julia, I am sure my husband will appreciate. He loves Chinese food”.

The PR team leaves. James remains seated: “just a quick word as a friend, Julia”, she smiles sweetly: “of course James”, “I just wanted to mention how happy I am to see you in a serious relationship again. It was long overdue”, she smirks: “how do you know it’s serious?”, he laughs: “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t, and so wouldn’t your PR team. You wouldn’t put all of this effort in if you did not care about David deeply. I have known you long enough, Julia. You haven’t been shy about dumping previous boyfriends when they became a liability to your career”. She smiles sweetly: “you do know me well, James…”.

James gets up and approaches David with a big smile: “whatever it is you are doing, please keep doing it. I haven’t seen Julia this happy in a very long time”, then he chuckles: “and I can’t remember Julia being this gracious with anyone who dared to interrupt a meeting she was chairing the way you just have…”.

Julia turns to David with a frown now: “we do need to talk about that, sir…”, David smirks: “oi, I knew that’d get me into deep trouble, ma’am”, James smiles: “you still went ahead and did it…”, David reaches for her hand on the bed: “she needs to rest her brain. Doctor’s orders”, Julia nods: “I got into trouble last night for overworking...”, David smiles sweetly: “and I will make sure you don’t do that again, love” she smiles at him softly: “I know…”.

James gazes between the two of them with a soft smile, then moves to leave: “excellent, this is fantastic, I will see you tomorrow. It was nice meeting you, David”, Julia waves her hand: “my regards to Beatrice and the children”, he smiles: “you two will have to come over for dinner once you are better”.

James leaves and a while later the mothers return from their prolonged lunch break. The nurse enters the room too. She lowers the blinds: “time for your rest, madam”, then she dims all lights and leaves the room.

Frances smiles: “let’s sit on the sofa next door, Ella. You can finish telling me the story of how David ruined your Christmas dinner”, David groans: “ma, please, not that story again!”, Ella chuckles: “they need to know who they are dealing with, Davy”, he whimpers: “I was 5 years old. I can hardly remember it…”, Ella laughs: “instead, everybody else who was present will never be able to forget it, Davy”, Julia chuckles: “I’d be very interested in that story too…”, Ella laughs: “rest first. I will fill you in after you wake up, dear”, she takes Frances’ arm and they walk to the room next door, like two good old friends.

David smiles at Julia sweetly and stretches his arm towards her. She moves to his bed, leans into the crook of his neck and relaxes in his embrace, hugging his chest. As she is falling asleep, she whispers: “thank you for ending that meeting…”, he is very surprised by such remark and remains quiet, gently stroking her curls with his hand. She raises her head: “but don’t you dare to do it again…”, he chuckles, leans forward, their lips meet, and they exchange a tender kiss. Then they both take a long nap.

After their nap, it’s almost dinner time. The mothers are getting ready to leave when Vicky walks in. She greets them: “hello Mrs. Montague, Ella”, Frances replies with a polite smile: “hello Vicky”, David and Julia look surprised. David asks: “how do you know Julia’s mother, Vic?”, she smiles: “we met in the waiting room while you were in surgery. I was there when we all realized the two of you were up to something”, she smirks. Ella laughs: “indeed! Well, we are off now. We will leave you young people to your discussions”. Ella and Frances leave.

Vicky sits on a chair. She clears her throat and looks at Julia: “I’d like to begin with my apologies for yesterday…”, Julia smiles: “no need to, we have already been there. We can move on, Vicky. I mean it…”, she smiles: “thanks, I feel really bad I said those horrible things without even knowing you, while you were putting so much effort into protecting our children”.

Julia smiles: “did you have any questions on that? I do realize today’s meeting must have been rather overwhelming”, Vicky nods: “honestly, I wish you were dating the waitress of the pub at the corner, Dave. Things would be so much easier”, Julia smiles: “fair enough, sorry I am not a waitress…”, David chuckles: “certainly not”.

Vicky continues: “but I see that this is serious between the two of you, so let’s all find the best way to protect our children until they are old enough to understand”, Julia nods with a soft smile: “that’s being my priority. Your children are very important to David. Hence, they are very important to me”.

Vicky nods: “so after today I was wondering, if I, David, or any of our friends or relatives email photos of our children or posts them on social media, would they be liable to prosecution because of the injunction?”, David seems surprised: “good point, Vic, I had not thought about it!”.

Julia takes the legal paperwork James has left, turns a few pages, then points at a paragraph: “see here? There is the list of the exemptions, the parents and anyone who has the parents’ consent is not subjected to the injunction”, Vicky reads the part: “oh yes, it’s right there, thanks, Julia. I was reading this earlier, but I got lost in the legal language”, Julia smiles: “very understandable. It took years of study before I begun to make sense of it myself”.

David chuckles: “way too much Latin…”, Julia laughs: “indeed! I did have to take two courses of Latin, part of my law degree”, David smiles: “that’s good, you can help Ella with her homework, then”, Julia is surprised: “I didn’t realize she was taking Latin”, Vicky smiles: “she likes the classics. She says she wants to be an archeologist”, Julia smiles: “well, if that begins with learning Latin, I am happy to give a hand. Don’t count on me for Greek or Egyptian hieroglyphs, though!”.

They all laugh. Vicky sits back, visibly more relaxed: “she is actually doing rather well in Latin, surprisingly so, given that neither me, nor David, nor my mother can help her with that homework”, David smiles proudly: “she is a bright pupil”, Vicky is visibly proud too: “yes, she has high grades in all subjects”.

David adds: “except French, she does all right but not great in French. I wish I could help her, but I have forgotten most of the French I learned in school”, Vicky agrees: “me too, I just don’t use it enough”. Julia intervenes: “oh I can definitely help with that!”.

David nods: “you are fluent in several languages, aren’t you?”, Julia laughs: “not really. While I know a bit of German, Spanish, and Italian, French is the only one I speak very fluently. I grew up using English and French interchangeably. The Montague and my mother’s families originated in France and have retained the language”.

David seems surprised: “oh, I’ve never heard you and Frances speak French”, she smiles sweetly: “we don’t speak it when Anglophones are present. It’d be rude”, he looks almost upset: “to avoid embarrassing us for our ignorance?”, she seems surprised at the question: “no, no, we just don’t want people to think we are talking behind their back. It’s a matter of politeness, love”.

Then she looks into his eyes, sweetly: “you and Ella have never spoken Gaelic in front of me and my mother, yet I assume you both know it”, David nods: “aye of course, I grew up speaking it at home and I often speak it with my children so that they can learn it too”, she smiles sweetly: “why not in front of us, to avoid embarrassing us for our ignorance?”, he smirks: “fine, fine, point taken, sorry I was being too defensive”, they smile at each other sweetly.

Vicky steps in: “well, it’d be great if you could help Ella improve her grades in French, Madame Montague”, Julia smiles: “happy to and happy to help Charlie with his reading too”, Vicky smiles: “that may not be as necessary. He is doing much better now. Thanks for getting him into that special school. It is helping so much…”, Julia smiles sweetly but says nothing. 

Vicky stirs the conversation back to the meeting with the PRs: “there was something else I wanted to talk about with regards to the legal actions that were mentioned today”, Julia smiles politely and waits for her to continue: “all of those injunctions… the legal fees must be high…”, David nods: “I was thinking about that too”, Julia looks surprised: “oh but those are not for you to worry about!”.

David immediately becomes defensive again: “why, because Vicky and I are too poor?”, she sighs: “no David, that’s not the reason at all. It’s just that my job is the reason for your children and Vicky need protection. As Vicky so nicely put it earlier, if I was a waitress none of this would be necessary. It just seems fair that I cover the cost of dealing with the trouble I cause to your family”, David seems unsure.

Julia reaches for his hand on the bed and strokes it: “my job complicates everything, let me deal with it. I am the one who has chosen it, after all…”, she looks at him very sweetly: “OK?”, he looks up at her, very sweetly too: “I don’t know…”, she continues smiling at him softly.

Vicky is observing them and intervenes: “well, I think it’s fair. It’s your political position that causes the trouble, after all”, Julia nods: “besides, James is an old friend. He will give me a very good price”. She is still holding David’s hand. She looks at him intently, he looks at her sweetly then murmurs: “fine, I guess…”.

Julia looks at Vicky: “did you have any other questions on what we have discussed earlier?”, “not about that, really. May I make a comment, if you don’t mind?”, Julia smiles: “of course!”.

“I should thank you, Julia, for returning a loving father to my children. Dave has been noticeably happier in the past few months and a much more relaxed father. I knew it was a woman. Now I know it was you and I’d like to thank you for making Dave so happy”, Julia looks at David and smiles sweetly: “he makes me happy too…”.

Vicky smiles, then adds: “as I am sure you know, he is struggling with things…”, David remains quiet. Julia nods. She doesn’t reply. Vicky continues: “…and I think you can help him. You can succeed where I have failed”, David is listening quietly and murmurs: “it was not your fault, Vic. It was me…”. Vicky replies: “no Dave, it was both of us. These things are never one sided. It takes two to end a marriage. Just like it takes two to make one”.

Vicky pauses briefly, looking at David, then she continues: “we were very young when we got married and we both are rather different people now. The war and your PTSD have changed you. Raising two children alone for years has changed me too. As a couple, we could not deal with how we have changed. Now we are no longer compatible.”, then she turns to Julia: “you have a divorce behind you. I am sure you know what I am talking about”.

Julia nods: “our marriage technically ended when Roger begun sleeping around, but it truly ended when I pursued a career in politics and he could not deal with it. You have put it really well, Vicky, it’s when we changed in different directions that our marriage ended. I can blame him for the infidelity, but that came after we had already drifted apart, really”.

Vicky is looking at David softly: “exactly, and even without infidelity that drift has changed our feelings. We can be friends. We can love each other, but we are not in love with each other. It’s that simple really…”, David nods, looking at Vicky. He agrees. He has known it for a long time.

Vicky smiles at both of them: “I can see that the two of you have a bond Dave and I probably never truly had. I am not saying this with jealousy, envy, or anything. I am actually genuinely happy for you and I hope things work out well. You are from different worlds and that can cause friction, but I think what you share is deeper than that and will allow you to build a future together, cherishing your differences in a way that they enrich your life as a couple, not interfere with it”.

Then she turns to David: “if I may give you a little piece of friendly advice, Dave, do stop thinking that everything Julia says is rooted in your class difference and is somehow meant to humiliate you. It’s clear she doesn’t mean that. She truly cares about you. Don’t be dumb, man…”, he smiles: “thanks Vic, I will keep that in mind”, Julia takes his hand again and smiles at him with a sweet smirk: “and I will remind you… thanks Vicky”.

That evening, after Vicky leaves, Julia is still full of energy. They have their dinner together, then the nurse removes their plates. David smiles sweetly: “I am so happy to see you doing so much better today, my love”, she smiles sweetly: “yes, sleeping most of the day has helped a lot”.

Then she leans against him: “I feel so well that, if we only could… right now…”, she lowers a hand down to his thigh and rubs his groin near his sex. He smiles sweetly: “who says we can’t?”, she looks at him intrigued: “I didn’t think thrusting was one of the exercises Steve had recommended for your fractured pelvis…”, he chuckles: “it certainly isn’t and so isn’t holding your weight on top on me… not to mention that I don’t think your leg would take that position too happily”, she scoffs: “which pretty much rules out every option I can think of…”.

He puts his finger under her chin, turns her head and gives her a long and sensual kiss, entering her mouth with his tongue. She moans: “David… this is torture…”, he chuckles: “why don’t you lay yourself on your back across both beds horizontally with your head on my chest?”.

She looks at him intrigued. He winks seductively. She moves and positions herself as he suggested, “very good. Now you should cover yourself with your sheets. Just in case the nurse walks in at the wrong time”, she does as instructed, then she begins moaning. His hand has sneaked under the sheet, and is now lightly stroking her naked skin under her gown, his fingers gently pinching her nipple.

She turns her head and finds his. They begin kissing sensually again, their tongues dancing with each other, while his hand continues doing its magic. After taking care of both of her nipples, it sneaks down her body, reaches inside her knickers, and his fingers begin making soft round movements over her clit.

Her moans increase and she starts squirming against his hand: “David… ohhh”, he murmurs into her mouth: “aye, that’s my girl…”, then he moves his fingers further down while he continues his soft circling touches with his thumb.

He enters her and begins moving his fingers the way he knows she likes, bending them forward, rubbing against her G spot. Her moans increase noticeably. He silences her with a deep kiss, and continues stimulating her skillfully until he can feel her tighten around his fingers as she climaxes, groaning very deeply. She keeps panting for quite some times.

He can sense she has more in her and instead of stopping, he continues with his stimulations. She responds going into a new orgasm within seconds of the first one. This is so intense that she screams. Good thing he was covering her mouth with his.

Her whole body tenses up for several seconds, then she flops back on the bed and keeps panting for a long time, her head completely relaxed on his chest as she is coming down from her double high. He kisses her tenderly and whispers: “not too bad for a bloke with a broken pelvis, eh?”. She smiles softly, still panting: “not bad at all, Sergeant…”.

She relaxes on the bed for quite some times, catching her breath and energy, then she gets off the bed and uses her walker to walk around the bed. She stands by him, leans forward and gives him a deep kiss. She murmurs in his mouth: “your turn, love”, she slips her hand under the sheet and finds his hard erection.

She whispers: “we are quite ready, Sergeant…”, he smiles sweetly: “well that show you just gave was quite the turn on, Home Secretary…”, she kisses him again: “happy to learn that…”, then she gives him another long sensual kiss, while moving her hand along his length. He begins moaning intensely. She continues for several minutes until she knows he is really close.

At that point, she lifts the sheet and bends down, taking him into her mouth. She licks along his length, giving special attention to the sensitive tip. His moans increase a lot. He bites the sheet to muffle them.

She allows his tip to reach as deep into her throat as she manages, then she bobs her head onto him. He keeps moaning in his intense pleasure. She continues sucking him while alternating between massaging his testicles and moving her hand along his length in synchrony with the movements of her head on him.

His moans increase noticeably until he pants: “I’m close, love”, she continues sucking until he groans deeply and begins spilling in her mouth. She swallows it all, each gulping movement of her throat stimulating him further, until he completely empties himself, with several spills. Then, he fully relaxes in the bed, his eyes closed, catching his breath.

She gives his tip one last kiss then she pushes her walker around the bed and goes back on to snuggle up next to him. Then she whispers: “not too bad for a gal with a fractured femur and a titanium hip, eh?", he opens his eyes and looks at her very sweetly: “not bad at all, ma’am”.

They cuddle up quietly for several minutes, both enjoying the complete relaxation that follows an intense pleasure. Then she lifts her head and gives him a loving kiss: “I love you, David”, he smiles very sweetly: “and I love you, Julia”.

The next day, after their morning physiotherapy appointments she works for a few hours, reading several documents and catching up on her emails. “Don’t overdo it, love. Don’t forget that today we have another meeting with the PR team”, she scoffs: “I know, David, it’s in my calendar”, he reaches with his hand towards her: “then, please do take a break, love. You know you need it”, she sighs and looks at him with a mixed annoyed and sweet smile: “I hate you when you are right…”.

He stretches his arm and smiles sweetly: “cuddle?”, she closes her laptop, scoots over to his bed, leans in the crook of his neck under his loving embrace, and sighs: “you are lucky you are so bloody cute, David”, he giggles, caressing her hair softly, until she falls asleep against his warm body, hugging his chest with her injured arm. He leans his head against hers and dozes off too.

They are both still asleep in each other’s arms when the nurse walks in with their lunches. She quietly puts them on the overbed tray table next to their beds and tiptoes out of the room. They continue sleeping until James walks in, followed by Kim who is carrying the take-away that has just been delivered. Kim looks at the sleeping couple with a soft smile, quietly puts the food on the table, and exits the room.

James walks up to the bed and gently shakes them awake: “I hate to be doing this. You both look quite relaxed, but the PR team will be here soon…”, they open their eyes, still looking sleepy. Julia smiles: “hello James, what are you doing here?”, he chuckles: “we have a meeting in 15 minutes, Julia and you haven’t had your lunch yet”, she sits up and looks at David with a frown: “well, now you can’t complain I haven’t had my rest, today”, he laughs sweetly: “yes, ma’am, plenty of rest”.

They are eating their lunch, still sitting together in David’s bed, when the PR team walks in. Julia smiles: “help yourself to the food”, James fills his plate: “beef stew in a Barolo reduction with potato gnocchi. You are spoiling us, Julia”, she jokes: “and torturing ourselves, watching you having the best Italian food in the neighborhood while we are having this lousy hospital food”.

David chuckles: “it’s not that bad, love, and the meal is designed to help our recovery, growing new bones and all that”, she grumbles: “well, I’d be happier if I could be growing Italian bones with a glass of Barolo right now…”, they both giggle, looking into each other’s eyes sweetly.

The others are watching them smiling. This new couple looks quite happy. Worth putting in the effort to help them navigate the media storm they will cause. 

Today they have another 2-hour meeting, going over several of Cheryl’s suggestions on dealing with the political fallout of their relationship. In the end, Julia puts her laptop down and leans back against the pillow: “well, then we agree we will be proactive and prepare a press release for the day we are discharged. On that day I will also briefly address the press, essentially with the same release”.

Cheryl nods: “yes, we can’t control how much the press will talk, but we can take the lead on what they will say. At least on that first day they will mostly replay your statement and repeat the press release”, James nods: “and hopefully that will set the tone of the discourse”, Julia continues: “the press release will also inform them of the court injunctions, in case they decide to go after the children right away”.

Cheryl agrees: “and once we have an idea of when you will be physically ready for it, we will schedule your joint interview with BBC journalist John Smith”, David squirms in the bed now. She reaches for his hand: “I can do it by myself, if you prefer”, he smiles at her sweetly: “no I will go with you. I know it’s better”.

Cheryl steps in: “if people see the two of you doing things together, they will see you as a real couple”, Julia sneers: “and not a sinful mismatch…”.

David sighs: “I hate this, why would they care so much?”, she looks at him softly: “I know… I am sorry, love. You can still run away, if you wish”, he shakes his head: “I won’t… run”, then he looks into her eyes: “you know that…”, she nods, smiling sweetly.

Cheryl smiles: “the good news is that the media have very short memory. Within a few weeks, months at most, they will forget all about you. You just need to weather the initial storm, then things will become a lot easier”.

Julia nods: “well, we can adjourn our meeting for today. I will make sure my secretary collects the information we need”, Cheryl smiles: “and I will draft a press release which I will email to you and James, so that it can be assessed even from a legal point of view”, Julia smiles: “thank you all”. As they are leaving, Cheryl turns back: “almost forgetting, do expect a call from the PM, Julia. He will want to know about our plans”. She nods: “yea, I expected it”.

James is getting up to leave with the PR team when David stops him: “mind staying behind for a bit, James? I’d have a question for you”, Julia gives him a puzzled look but says nothing. James nods: “of course!”.

Once the PR team has left David inquires: “I was wondering whether your legal firm dealt with cases of divorce…”, James nods: “yes of course, there are plenty of those around. They keep us quite busy”,

David smiles: “just before the St Mathews College attack Vic and I had talked about getting a divorce”, Julia sits quietly. David continues: “since you are Julia’s friend, I’d prefer to do it with your firm if that’s all right with you”, then he hesitates and adds: “…and if we can afford the fees. I do realize you work with upper class people…”.

James smiles softly: “the last time I checked the class system had long been dropped in England. Of course, we are happy to help you and Vicky with your divorce. As for the fees, because I can handle the paperwork within my same visits here, we can bundle your divorce case with the PR case and give you a very good deal. I can prepare a quote and bring it the next time I visit”, David smiles: “thanks James, I appreciate that”.

James winks: “anything to get you closer to my friend Julia”, David makes a silly smile and moves himself a few centimetres on the bed to be as close to Julia as possible: “couldn’t be any closer already”, she swats his arm: “silly…”, he turns towards her and gives her a soft kiss: “moi? Silly?”. James smiles sweetly and gets up: “see you both later”.

As James leaves, Julia turns to David: “a divorce? Does Vicky know?”, he chuckles: “of course she knows! She readily agreed when I told her I was serious with someone else and I wanted a divorce”, Julia smiles at him very sweetly: “well, I am happy you’d be serious…”, she leans her head onto his shoulder then adds: “…because I am serious too”, he gently caresses her face, lifts her head up and gives her a long kiss.

She smiles sweetly: “but don’t you dare to propose… I have had enough with being married for a while”, he chuckles: “how long is that _while_? I may hold off my question until then…”, she looks at him sternly: “you are joking, right?”, he chuckles: “yes, I was joking”.

Then he smiles sweetly and adds: “I’d love for us to get there eventually, but I agree with you that it’s just too soon right now”, she smiles sweetly: “exactly… it’s not that I am not committed…”, he nods: “I know, me too…”, they kiss again. Lovingly and tenderly. Then they cuddle together for a nap until their next visit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A disclosure: I know close to nothing (let's make that a nothing) about law. Everything in here is completely made up. I apologize to the lawyers out there. My ignorance in your field is abysmal, but I am happy to make corrections if you wish to make suggestions. E.g. I have no idea whether an injunction against everybody is even possible and if it is possible, whether that is called an injunction..


	6. A happy family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During their last period in hospital they meet each other's family and take one important decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter set at the hospital. 😀😀

In the afternoon Julia is having her nap, hugging David’s chest, her head lying in the crook of his neck, his arms lovingly around her. His phone buzzes. It’s a text from Vicky, ‘just picked them up. U+J awake?’, he texts back, ‘will be when U get here’, then he gently shakes Julia: “love, I am so sorry to wake you up but Vic and the children are on their way”, she stretches and lifts her head up. They kiss.

Then she moves to her own bed. He smiles: “you can stay here, love. I have already told my children you are my girlfriend. She smiles: “I know, I just need to go to the loo”. A few minutes later she walks back into the room. Her hair is nicely brushed. She has even put some curls on, now that she can use her injured hand a bit. And she has a light make up.

He smiles sweetly: “you didn’t need to do that for my children. They won’t even notice”, she smirks: “maybe I did that for you…”, he smiles softly: “you always look beautiful to me, Julia”, she rolls her eyes: “gosh that was so bloody cheesy, David”, he grins: “aye, that was the intention…”, they both giggle.

She has just sat back onto her bed when there is a knock on the door. Vicky walks in, the children in tow. Ella runs to David: “hello dad, how are you?”, she climbs on his bed. He takes her in his arms and gives her a loving kiss: “much better, pumpkin”, Vicky admonishes her: “careful Ella. Even if it no longer is in a cast, daddy’s arm is still injured. He can’t hold you like that”. Ella moves to the other side of his dad: “better here?”, David kisses her again: “very good, pumpkin”.

Ella is now sitting between Julia and her father. She looks at her with her beautiful blue eyes and a funny smirk: “hello Julia. Am I taking your spot here? You are my dad’s girlfriend, after all”, Julia is about to answer when Ella continues with a know-all tone: “boyfriends and girlfriends sleep together all the time…”.

David blushes and almost chokes on his own saliva. He starts coughing and has to take a sip from the glass on his nightstand. Julia laughs: “I am perfectly fine with you being there, Ella. It’s not quite sleep time now”.

Charlie is watching the scene from behind his mother’s legs, looking rather shy. In that moment his grandma Ella walks in with Frances. Charlie runs to Ella: “nana, you are here!!”. She picks him up and places a big wet kiss on his cheek”, he turns his head: “eww nana!”, she laughs and puts him back down.

Vicky smiles: “I must go back to work now. I will return after my shift. Have fun with Frances, nana, daddy, and Julia, children”.

That seems to remind Charlie of Julia’s presence. He looks at her shyly, from behind his grandma’s legs. She smiles at him sweetly: “hello Charlie, can you remember me? We met on FaceTime a few times”, he nods but does not speak.

His grandma takes his hand: “let’s go and say hello to Julia, Charlie. She is very nice”, he walks up to Julia’s bed: “are you hurt like my daddy?”, she nods, smiling sweetly: “I was injured, but I am doing much better now”, the boy seems to think a bit: “were you in an accident like my daddy?”, Julia nods: “yes, Charlie, your dad and I were in the same accident”, he smiles shyly: “because you are his girlfriend?" she smiles: “because of that and because we work together”.

David intervenes: “hey Charlie boy, you haven’t given your old man a hug yet”, Charlie runs up to his side of the bed and climbs up. David hugs him tightly: “here’s my boy. How was football (soccer) practice today?”, the boy gets very excited: “I scored twice!”, “excellent, Charlie boy! And have you done your homework yet?”.

Ella answers: “we haven’t. Mum said you and Julia would help with that”, Julia smiles: “then you should bring your knapsacks here. We can take a look together”.

Ella gets off the bed, grabs her bag and brings it back to Julia: “mum said you can help especially with French and Latin”, Julia smiles then she speaks slowly, making sure she pronounces every word clearly: “je serais heureuse de t’aider” (I’d be happy to help you), Ella makes a very happy smile and takes out her French notebook: “I have already done these. Can you check them, please?”.

Julia looks at the exercises for a bit: “these are all very good, Ella. Excellent job… there are only two that I think you may want to take a second look”, she hands the notebook to her and points at two of the fill in the blank questions: “if you look at the subject of those sentences carefully, you may want to reconsider those verbs”.

Ella looks attentively: “they are supposed to be plural!”, Julia smiles: “exactly. Those are tricky sentences, really. The plural is not obvious because they are two separate subjects”, Ella nods: “yes, Madame Leblanc always does that!”, Julia laughs: “how sneaky!”, Ella erases the singular verbs and writes marchent (they walk) and étudient (they study), then she shows them to Julia.

Julia smiles: “ls sont parfaits maintenant” (those are perfect now), Frances adds: “tu as été très bonne, chérie”, (you were very good, darling), Ella smiles happily: “tu parles français aussi!” (you speak French too!), Frances smiles: “et je suis aussi heureuse de t’aider” (and I am also happy to help you). Ella is really happy now: “I will get the best marks in the class!”.

Then she turns to David who is now helping Charlie with his math homework: “daddy, you have the coolest girlfriend”, he laughs: “I know, she is the best”, then he smiles at Julia sweetly. She smiles back at him, very sweetly too, then she chuckles: “I know…”, they all laugh.

Ella takes another notebook out of her knapsack. On the front cover it says ‘Latin’. I haven’t had time to do these yet. Frances, Julia, can you help me?”, Frances laughs: “I can’t remember much of the Latin I have learned in school, darling. I think Julia will be much better than me at that. She took it in both high school and university”.

Ella seems impressed: “are you an archeologist, Julia?”, Julia smiles sweetly: “not really. Latin was part of my Law degree”, “oh you are a lawyer, like Sarah’s mother!”, she smiles sweetly: “I used to be a barrister. Now I am a politician”, Ella seems surprised: “and what do politicians do?”, Julia smiles: “we make the laws that the police, lawyers, and judges then enforce”.

Ella thinks for a bit then smiles: “oh, then you and my dad work on the same things. He is a policeman! He protects very important people”, as she says that, she sounds very proud.

Julia smiles very sweetly: “I know, he is a very good policeman!”, Ella nods: “the best”, David laughs: “careful, that may go to my head…”, Ella makes a know-all smile: “it already has. You already think you are the best”, they all laugh, Julia winks at David with a teasing smirk: “indeed…”.

Then Julia changes the subject of the conversation: “I thought we were going to go over your Latin homework, Ella”, the girl opens her notebook: “I can’t understand the difference between et, atque, and que”, Julia laughs: “no wonder, those are confusing indeed. Et means simply ‘and’ and you can use it in any sentences. Atque means ‘and’ too, but more in a ‘and further’, sense, so it is a stronger conjunction. Instead, que means ‘and’, but only when it is the last of a list of more than two elements. You can think of it as meaning ‘lastly’. That should help avoid confusion”.

Ella looks happy: “it does help, thank you so much Julia, you are the best!”, and she hugs her. David smiles: “hey, I thought you said I was the best!”, Ella chuckles: “you are the best policeman. Julia is the best, ever”. David laughs, looking at Julia sweetly: “I couldn’t agree more, but be careful, pumpkin. It may go to her head…”, Ella laughs.

Charlie pulls at his dad’s arm: “you are distracted, daddy. You should be helping with this”, Julia smirks: “yes, daddy, no distractions, please…”. After he is done with his homework Charlie gets off the bed, walks around it and climbs back up, by Julia: “Julia, can you look at my homework too, please? The last time daddy missed a mistake”.

Julia is happy to see Charlie overcoming his shyness. She smiles sweetly: “of course, Charlie. The last time your daddy may have been distracted”, she smirks towards David. He sticks his tongue out at her. They all laugh, then Julia looks at Charlie’s arithmetic exercises: “they all look correct to me, good job, Charlie”, the boy makes a happy smile that looks so much like David’s.

Julia is charmed: “did you have any more homework?”, Charlie nods, with a suddenly sad look in his eyes: “I am supposed to read…”, she pats the bed besides her: “why don’t you sit here and we do that together?”.

Ella complains, a tinge of jealously in her voice: “I thought you were going to help me with my math, Julia!”, David stretches his hand towards her: “here, pumpkin, we can do those together”, Ella scuttles near her dad.

Charlie takes his reading book out, sits by Julia, then whispers shyly: “I am not good at this…”, Julia smiles sweetly: “let’s do it together. I am sure you can do it, Charlie”. The boy begins reading, with low voice, looking scared and insecure. Julia can see that. She lowers her head and listens carefully. She gently corrects his pronunciation a few times, but the boy reads the whole paragraph by himself.

In the end, she praises him: “that was excellent, Charlie”, he smiles shyly: “but I made mistakes…”, Julia smiles sweetly: “only the really difficult words. The rest was excellent, and now that you know them, you will pronounce those difficult words correctly too. Would you like to try again? Maybe you can read this to Frances and your nana this time”, Charlie nods.

Frances and Ella approach them and sit on chairs next to the bed. They smile at the boy sweetly. He smiles at them then he reads the same paragraph again, with more confident voice than before. He gets to the end without making any mistakes.

Julia praises him again: “that was truly excellent, Charlie”, Frances reinforces that: “perfect!”, His nana smiles proudly: “sàr-mhath, mo ghille!” (=excellent, my boy! In Scottish Gaelic), the little boy smiles very happily. Julia continues smiling sweetly: “that’s what school is all about. And not just school. Every day we all learn new things and improve ourselves”.

The boy looks at Julia with his big blue eyes: “even you?”, she smiles: “me, your dad, your mum, your nana, Frances, you, Ella, everyone, we all improve on the things we don’t know”. Charlie hugs her. Ella is jealous, moves near Julia and hugs her too.

When Vicky walks in in the end of her shift, the children are sitting next to Julia, one on each side, both hugging her, watching a cartoon together. David smiles: “hello Vic”, she smiles: “hello everyone, all homework done? Ready to go home for dinner?”.

Charlie runs to his mum and hugs her: “can we have dinner here, with daddy and Julia?”, Julia smiles sweetly but does not reply, letting the parents take the decision. Vicky smiles: “well, we could order pizza. It is Friday night, after all”, David smiles: “excellent, pizza for everyone, then”.

Julia takes her phone out, taps a few times, then: “there is a good Italian pizzeria nearby. Let’s all choose a pizza from there”, Ella is looking into Julia’s phone, still sitting by her. She points at one pizza. Julia selects it, taps on another for herself, then she turns to Charlie: “how about you, Charlie?”, the boy runs up the bed next to her again and chooses a pizza too. Then Julia hands her phone to Vicky: “you should choose one too Vicky, and you mother, and you Ella”, then she smiles: “and we should also order drinks, maybe a bottle of wine or a few beers…”.

Then she looks at David smiling softly: “and you... you should choose a pizza and a drink too”, he smirks: “I will eat anything the children or anybody else don’t eat. That’s my traditional role in the family”, Julia laughs: “the rubbish bin. I will keep that in mind…”, he giggles looking at her sweetly: “oi, I am in trouble, now…”.

Then Julia presses the button to call the nurse. Within minutes she walks in: “did you need me?”, Julia smiles: “tonight we have decided we will bring in some take-away food and eat with our guests. Can you please cancel our dinner orders?”, the nurse smiles sternly: “those meals are specifically designed to help with your recovery…”, then she looks around the room and sees the children’s hopeful eyes and relents: “…but I think for this one night we can let you skip”, Julia nods happily and winks at the children: "thank you, that’s such great news”.

The nurse looks at Julia and David with stern gaze that implies the rest is nonnegotiable: “no alcohol for either of you, though. That does not mix well with your pain medications”, Julia makes a scornful pout. David laughs, reaches for her hand, and smirks teasingly. Then he answers the nurse: “yes, ma’am, we will not have any alcohol with our pizza. I promise”, the nurse smiles and leaves.

When later everybody leaves, David turns to Julia with loving gaze: “have I told you yet how wonderful you are?”, she smiles sweetly: “you might have, but feel free to repeat that”, he stretches his arm towards her. She moves to his bed and they cuddle up. They kiss.

He whispers: “you are wonderful, love”, they kiss again, “…thank you for being so lovely with my children”, she smiles sweetly: “of course, David. They are important to you. Hence, they are important to me too”.

Then she raises her head and looks at him: “and they are lovely children. I only hope I get things right with them. You know, I don’t have any experience with children”, he smiles: “given how things went today, I may have to worry they’ll soon love you more than me”, she smirks: “I didn’t think of you as the jealous type, David…”, he replies sweetly: “only with the people I love the most, Ella, Charlie, and… you”, he leans in for a kiss. A long loving kiss. She happily returns it, then she leans in the crook of his neck and falls asleep in his embrace, her arm leaning on his chest. The children were fun, but tiring.

A few days later, they are together in David’s semi reclined bed, watching the BBC news. She is lying with her head in the crook of his neck, his arms wrapped around her. Suddenly, they hear a commotion in the hallway, then the room’s door opens slightly. A rather flustered-looking Tom peeks in: “sorry to disturb you, madam, but there is a person who is not on the approved visitors’ list. She says she is your aunt”.

Then they hear a very annoyed loud voice: “of course I am, I have been Julie’s aunt all of her life. I should certainly know whether or not I am her aunt!”. Then the voice goes louder: “Julie, fait lui savoir que je suis ta tante s'il te plait!” (Julie, let him know I am your aunt, please), Julia sounds very surprised: “tante Janette?!?”, Then she reassures Tom: “yes, Tom, this is my aunt Janette Montague, the most vociferous in my family as you may have guessed”, then she mouths: ‘so sorry!’, he chuckles and steps aside to let aunt Janette in.

A petit woman wearing a bright purple dress, a pink pashmina, and a matching wide-brimmed pink hat storms in: “comment vas-tu, ma petite Julie?” (how are you my little Julie?), Julia makes a happy smile: “je ne m'attendais pas à ta venue ma tante, quand es tu arrivée?”, (I did not expect you, aunt. When have you arrived?), the woman walks up to the bed and reaches right over David to give a big hug to Julia who is still in his arms: “avec le train de 15 heures. Comment vas-tu, ma petite?” (with the 3PM train. How are you my little one?), “Je vais beaucoup mieux, tante Janette” (I am much better, aunt).

Her aunt smiles happily: “tu dois être le célèbre David. Frances parle toujours de toi” (you must be the famous David. Frances always talks about you), David laughs: “célèbre?!?, Moi?!?’, Julia laughs: “je pensais que tu avais dit que tu ne parlais pas français …” (I thought you said you didn’t speak French), he laughs: “well I really don’t, but I do understand some. Years and years sitting in those French classes in high school must have left a faint trace in my brain…”.

Aunt Janette switches to English: “I am sorry, I did not realize I was speaking French. We do that a lot in our family”, David smiles: “aye, I know. Not a problem. I just hope you don’t mind that I don’t speak it much”, aunt Janette smiles sweetly: “why would I mind? Not everyone is a snob Montague, after all”, Julia laughs: “thankfully, David has nothing to do with the Montague”, aunt Janette makes a big happy smile: “that is so, so, good! Finally a real man for my beloved niece”, David smiles but remains quiet.

Janette is watching David curiously: “I have never heard Frances talk as positively about any of the men in our family as she talks about you”, David is embarrassed now and smiles quietly. Julia is watching him sweetly. He looks into her eyes and returns the very sweet smile.

Janette can see that: “yea, Frances talked about that too”, Julia looks at her, puzzled: “what?”, Janette smiles sweetly: “that gaze between the two of you just now… it’s so good to see you finally so in love, mon chéri”, Julia blushes and says nothing. She is way better at making quick and witty remarks during sessions in Parliament than replying to her aunt Janette’s direct and very personal and nosey comments.

David smiles sweetly. He raises his hand and strokes Julia’s cheek lightly, looking at her tenderly: “I sure hope so…”, then he leans in and gives her a soft kiss. Aunt Janette smiles: “excellent, we will be planning the best wedding, ever”, Julia laughs: “hold your horses, tante (=aunt) Janette. There won’t be such a thing any time soon!”, David laughs but says nothing. Janette looks at him directly: “you’d better propose young man…”, Julia laughs embarrassed: “leave him alone, tante Janette. I am certainly not interested in rushing into another marriage right now”, David strokes her cheek again but says nothing. Aunt Janette rolls her eyes: “rushing? It’s been 5 years, chéri… not a rush by any stretch of the imagination…”.

To David and Julia’s relief, in that moment Frances and Ella return from their walk and interrupt that conversation. Frances is very surprised: “Janette? I did not expect you!”, Janette walks up to her: “I told you on the phone I wanted to visit Julie”, Frances laughs:” that was last night. I did not realize you were going to show up from Cheltenham today!”. Janette hugs her: “nice to see you too, Frances”, Frances returns her hug laughing: “it is always very nice to see you Janette!”, then she introduces Ella.

Janette hugs her too: “so glad to meet the mother of the groom”, Ella turns to David and Julia, puzzled: “any news I don’t know of yet?”, Julia chuckles: “no news Ella, just aunt Janette being her usual pushy self”, Janette laughs: “me, pushy?”, Frances laughs too: “indeed!”, Ella laughs: “well, I can be that too… if you wish me to put a bit of pressure on the groom-to-be…”, David laughs but says nothing again, feeling overpowered by all those women.

Julia can see that and steps in: "leave him alone, all of you”, then she gives him a soft kiss: “given how both of our marriages ended it’s very advisable that we hold off on any such ideas for the foreseeable future”.

David tries to change the topic of the conversation: “in less than an hour they will bring our dinner. How would you ladies like to join us? We can order take-away”, Frances is about to make up some excuses for going home instead, when Janette replies very enthusiastically: “that is such a marvelous idea, David! What kind of food can we order in? Not awful hospital food I shall hope!”, David laughs: “there are all sorts of restaurants around the hospital. Several of them have rather good food, I am told”.

David picks up his phone from the nightstand: “here are a few I have saved”, Janette approaches him and looks at the various options: “some look really good. This Indian, for example”, David looks at the other women: “do you like Indian food, ladies?”, they both nod. He smiles: “then, come on here and select what you would like”. He hands them his phone.

He turns to Julia: “you and I should stick to hospital food, love”, she answers grumpily: “I can’t see why I couldn’t grow Indian bones today”, he chuckles: “you can if you can convince our very strict nurse that we can skip another hospital meal”.

Not one to avoid a challenge, Julia smiles very happily: “let’s do it then!”. She pushes the button to call the nurse and cancel their meals again. The nurse is not too happy: “you’ve canceled your dinner even the other day”, Julia nods: “just one more time. We have a special guest tonight”.

The nurse gives her a tough gaze. The Home Secretary Julia Montague certainly knows how to return that. There is a brief wordless stand-off, then the nurse gives in: “fine, but this has to be the last time, madam… and no alcohol!”, Julia smiles graciously: “I promise…”. The nurse leaves.

Julia turns to David: “that wasn’t too difficult. Such a good idea, love”. He knows her well. He knew she’d have it her way. He says nothing. He just smiles sweetly and gives her another soft kiss.

Aunt Janette jokes: “I don’t know, Julie… if I was you I wouldn’t turn down his marriage proposal”, Julia rolls her eyes. Aunt Janette continues: “but do let me know if you let him free. I may give him a go myself. A man who likes Indian food and can be so loving, is quite the rarity, chéri!”, then she winks naughtily: “not to mention those looks… those blue eyes are to die for”, Julia laughs and so do the others. David blushes and laughs embarrassed, struggling to find something to answer such a blatant compliment.

Julia steps in to the rescue again, laughing: “enough, now, tante Janette, keep your hands off my boyfriend!”. Aunt Janette raises her hands up and makes a very funny I-won’t-touch-your-man face. They all laugh. Julia smirks: “you can have Roger, tante Janette. He’s been up for grab for 5 years now. You know, good money, good job, decent enough looks…”, Janette makes a mock horrified face: “that prat? No thank you very much! Sooo not worth the hassle. And I am sure he is not even good in _that_ department...”.

Then she looks at David making a funny face: “and if I have to guess, you are much better off now, mon chéri”, David blushes badly and laughs. Julia laughs, blushed too: “tante Janette, you are terrible…”, Janette feigns innocence: “moi?!?”, then she winks: “are you saying I am incorrect?’, Julia laughs: “I am not saying anything. I am not commenting on that, tante Janette”, she giggles: “that’s good. Never criticize your man’s sexual performance in public”, Julia keeps laughing, blushed: “I am not criticizing at all!”, aunt Janette smirks wittily: “exactly what I thought… so happy for you, chéri”, now both Julia and David laugh, looking at each other very blushed.

With only a few sentences, aunt Janette has just outsmarted one of the best criminal barristers in England and the wittiest sharp tongue in Parliament…

The rest of the evening is more of the same. Aunt Janette continues being very direct, straightforward, and forthright. Eventually, David relaxes and joins in the fun, despite all of the embarrassing comments Janette keeps making right in front of their mothers.

After dinner, as they are leaving, Janette hugs Julia, then she gives David a tight hug and whispers in his ear: “you’d better continue keeping my niece this happy, sir”, he smiles sweetly: “I plan to, ma’am”, then Janette lets go of David: “it was lovely meeting you, David”, then she winks: “see you soon at the wedding…”, laughs and walks out of the room with Frances and Ella. She waves at Tom: “thank you young man, next time I tell you I am Julie’s aunt, you are better off believing me up front…”.

The room suddenly feels oddly quiet. Just as abruptly and unannounced as it arrived, hurricane Janette has left.

Julia turns to David: “I hope that was not too much, love. I am sorry about the pushiness and all the embarrassment”, he smiles: “I actually like her a lot. She is quite funny and I like her self-confidence and directness”, she smiles: “yes, she is my favorite aunt. She can be bossy but she means well”, he smirks: “a bossy Montague? Who would have ever imagined that?”.

David leans in and gives her a long loving kiss, murmuring in her mouth: “self-confident, direct, and bossy. I do love those Montague traits…”, she happily returns his kiss then protests: “hey, you… sir…”, he giggles and kisses her again: “my point exactly… bossy…”. 

Over the next two weeks, their hospital routine continues with physiotherapy, psychiatric therapy, work, careful care of their scars and burns, visits from the children, and Julia’s work-related visitors. The PR team and James also visit a few times and they finalize their plans for when they will announce their relationship to the press.

Thanks to their hard work, Julia’s and David’s conditions keep improving. Julia is weaned off the walker and can now use only a crutch, with her good hand. She can also begin removing the leg brace, but only for brief walks with her crutch for now.

One day Steve is in their room, for their usual physiotherapy session: “Julia your progress is being very good. It will be a while before you are back to 100% function, but I think you will be able to leave the hospital soon and continue with your physiotherapy at home”, she smiles happily: “finally, now that the risk level has been lowered I am actually allowed to return to my flat. I can’t wait, frankly. It’s been way too long”.

Then she looks at Steve: “how about my wrist? That moves well now”, Steve nods: “yes, that is greatly improved too even though you still need to avoid putting too much weight on it. You can use that hand for writing, typing, and similar light activities, but you still shouldn’t lean on it too much and you definitely should not lift heavy weights. For example, a full pot while cooking”, she smirks: “me cooking?”, David chuckles, she gives him a Montague fiery gaze, David smirks: “what?!? I just never had the pleasure… yet…”. They both laugh.

Steve continues: “however, I must emphasize that even if you go home, Julia, you will still need to rest frequently and take naps throughout the day. The symptoms of your concussion are improving well, but it will be a few weeks, possibly even months, before your brain is back to normal”.

Julia nods: “yes, I can feel that myself. When I don’t take naps or I work too hard, I feel dizzy and nauseous”, David nods: “I can see when that happens, love. You look pale and tired. I will make sure I will remind you to take breaks”, she smirks and rolls her eyes: “oh I know, I know…”, he looks at her sweetly: “not be a controlling partner, but because I care about you”, she smiles sweetly: “I know…”.

Steve smiles: “excellent”, then he turns to David: “you are making really good progress too. Today we walked a rather long distance”, David nods: “when can I stop using the walker and shift to the crutch, like Julia?”, Steve smirks: “stop competing with your girlfriend, mate. Yours are rather different injuries and the rate of recovery is bound to be different!”, he chuckles: “I am not competing, it’s just that I’d like to be able to go home when Julia does, not be left behind”.

Steve smiles: “as long as one of you is relatively independent, you can go home together even if you are still using the walker”, David smirks: “that implies Julia is available to look after me. Not sure I’d bet on that…”, she swats his arm: “I can’t remember giving you authorization to place bets on me, sir”, he laughs and winks at Steve: “my point exactly…”.

Steve laughs: “if your arm wasn’t injured as well as your pelvis, you could shift to using two crutches even now. However, since you can’t lean onto your injured arm yet, you need to keep using the walker until you are ready to move to a single crutch and that won’t happen for at least another 10-15 days, mate. But you certainly can do that part of your rehabilitation therapy at home if you wish to leave the hospital with Julia. You will need someone to help you at home, though”.

Julia smirks: “and I’d be happy to be that someone, whether you are prepared to bet on it or not”, David leans in and gives her a soft kiss: “happy to hear that, love”.

After Steve leaves, Julia turns to David: “we need to talk, love, don’t we?”, he smiles sweetly: “aye...”, she continues: “Steve was assuming we live together”, he nods: “is that what you want?”, she smirks: “hey that’s unfair, I was going to ask first!”, he chuckles: “but I beat you to it, so now you need to answer first”.

She smiles sweetly: “we have spent lots of time together, but so far we haven’t lived together…”, she looks at him sweetly, but with honest gaze: “I have been enjoying my freedom since my divorce…”, he remains quiet, looking at her sweetly, allowing her to decide freely. She looks into his eyes and continues: “I feel ready for it, if you are, David”.

He smiles sweetly: “aye, me too. I’d miss you after many weeks of interconnected rooms at the Blackwood hotel and being always together here, at the hospital”, he leans in. They kiss.

She smiles sweetly: “my flat?”, he nods: “it seems to make sense. It’s larger and closer to your work than mine”, she nods: “but not as close to the children as your flat”, “aye, I know, but they won’t be far either. Vicky’s flat is only a 15-minute drive from yours and their school is even closer”.

She looks at him with loving gaze, holding his hand in hers: “then I can officially pop the question: David Butt, will you do me the honor of moving in with me?”, he leans in and gives her a tender kiss: “very happily so, my love”. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A confession: my French is atrocious and my Scottish Gaelic non-existent. For both I have heavily relied on Google Translate and web sites on French grammar. Still, if you notice any errors, please let me know. I'd be more than happy to make corrections to the text.


	7. A new beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julia and David are finally well enough to leave the hospital. Together...

A few days after deciding David will move in with Julia, they are ready to leave the hospital and make the official announcement of their relationship. They have said their goodbyes and thankyous to the doctors and nurses who have taken care of them during their stay and now David and Julia are resting on their beds in preparation for the walk through the hospital and their encounter with the journalists waiting outside.

Their mothers are helping packing their things. Frances is busily walking around. She walks up to the bed with Julia’s contraceptive pills in her hand: “I am putting all of your bathroom things together. Is that ok?”, Julia nods: “yes, that works. We will share the en suite bathroom at home”, Frances smirks: “including these?”, she is pointing at Julia’s birth control. Julia smirks, blushed: “especially those…”.

Ella zips up the carry-on: “Davy’s clothes are all packed”, “thanks, ma”, Frances asks: “do you still have room in your suitcase? Julia’s is completely full and I haven’t packed her underwear yet”, Julia laughs: “can’t leave that here!”.

David laughs too, but says nothing. He just winks at her. Their mothers can see that and giggle. Julia blushes. She is a modern and confident woman, not shy about her own sexuality… except when in front of her own mother... Ella re-opens David’s carry-on, giggling: “plenty of room in here, right next to Davy’s underwear”.

They are just done packing when James and Cheryl walk in. Cheryl smiles: “the press release is ready to go. My secretary will click on ‘post’ the moment you begin talking to the press. Are you two ready?”, Julia looks at David and speaks confidently: “I am!”, David nods, and adds, with much less fervor: “me too…”, she places a soft kiss on his lips and looks at him sweetly: “let’s do this, then”.

They walk through the hospital hallways, Julia with her crutch, wearing a white silk shirt and a black suit with wide-leg trousers to fit on top of her leg brace. She has curled her hair nicely and put on makeup, her face scars well-masked. She walks with her back proudly straight, ready to face the horde of journalists gathered by the side door of the hospital, held back by several police officers.

David is also wearing his suit and is still using his walker. He feels a lot less confident than Julia but he has put on his bodyguard stoic face to hide that. Julia, Ella, and Frances can see right through it. Hopefully, the journalists won’t.

The PPOs walk outside ahead of them and place themselves at the two sides of the stand that has been set up for them.

Julia and David walk there, side by side. The cameras are rolling. Flashes are going wild. Julia stands in front of a forest of microphones. A voice from the crowd of journalists shouts: “how are you feeling Home Secretary?”, Julia turns towards the man: “much better, thank you very much, Jonathan”, she graciously smiles at the crowd and makes sure she looks into the cameras with her signature Montague professional smile.

Then she skillfully recites the text she has memorized: “first and foremost, my partner David and I wish to thank the hospital staff for their excellent care during our prolonged stay”, she turns towards the doctors and nurses and smiles graciously. A buzz goes through the crowd of journalists. _Partner_?!?

Julia continues: “David and I are happy to be going home after many weeks in hospital. We have both received multiple surgeries and extensive rehabilitation therapy. We are now much improved in health, even though we know we both have further recovery ahead”.

She pauses briefly and turns towards David, smiles graciously, then continues: “you may have recognized my partner Sergeant David Budd as my former Personal Protection Officer, British army veteran, and October first hero. David and I are now a couple, happy to move forward together and we ask that you please respect our desire for privacy as we both recover from the consequences of the St Mathews College attack”. A light chatter begins…

Julia continues: “in this regard, we wish to inform you of two court injunctions that ban any unapproved contacts with, and publications of, David’s family. The full content of said injunctions is posted on the tribunal’s as well as my own web sites. For any further information on the injunctions, David and I invite you to contact our personal legal representor, Lawyer James Archibald Egerton”, she points at James.

Then she concludes: “on my web site you will also find a full press release”, Julia ends with a well-practiced gracious formal smile.

A voice shouts from the crowd: “Mr. Budd, I thought you were married!”, Cheryl is ready to intervene. Julia raises her hand to stop her and smiles: “just this one question. David and his wife have been separated for more than two years and have begun divorce proceedings. You will find further information in the press release, Douglas”.

Then she looks at the crowd of journalists, smiling graciously: “thank you all for your kind attention. It is time for us to head home now”. With that, she steps back from the microphones and turns towards the waiting car.

She walks proud and straight, leaning onto her crutch only minimally. She holds her other hand under David’s arm, who is pushing his walker, also walking as straight and proud as he can manage. Their first official walk as a couple.

Tom and the new PPO walk them to the car. Kim and the driver hold the doors open for them, then the driver loads David’s walker into the car’s boot and Kim sits in the front passenger seat. Then she instructs the driver on the route to follow to get them home.

As they drive away, Julia relaxes in the car seat: “let’s let the shitstorm begin now…”, she reaches for David’s hand and smiles at him sweetly: “how are you doing?”, he smiles: “having loads of _fun_ , as you may imagine”, then he continues: “the weirdest part right now is sitting here instead of the front seat”.

Kim chuckles: “hey Sarge, you are not allowed to steal my job! Deal?”, he laughs: “deal!”, they all laugh, including the new driver.

When they get home, they find another horde of journalists waiting at the doors of Julia’s block of flats, Overstrand Mansions. The car stops by the main entrance. Julia and David get off and go inside, smiling graciously but ignoring the many questions from the journalists who by now have had the time to read the press release and look up David Budd.

The questions being screamed reflect that: “David, what does your wife think of this?”, “David, did you leave your wife for the Home Secretary?”, “David, how does it feel to be the toy boy of such a powerful woman?”, “David, what do your children think of this?”. The noise is incredible, a cacophony of shouting voices. The couple just ignores them and walks inside, protected by their PPOs. As the porter closes the building’s door, Julia turns back and smiles graciously one last time.

Frances and Ella are already in the flat, driven there by a car that left the hospital during Julia’s announcement to the press. They are busily organizing things in Julia’s flat. When Kim lets Julia and David in, their mothers approach them. Frances is the first to ask: “how did it go?”, Julia smiles: “as well as it could, but if you want to learn their take you need to turn on the telly”.

Ella does that, turns to the BBC. They are playing a video of the two of them exiting the hospital and Julia’s speech to the press. The caption reads: ‘Home Secretary released from hospital announces romantic liaison with former PPO’, Ella comments: “well, that’s not bad…”, Julia smirks: “that’s the BBC, many of the other stations are going to be quite different”.

Ella flips through the stations and the tone is immediately harsher. They are all showing the exact same video, but the captions are very different: ‘Home secretary in sexual relationship with married bodyguard’, ‘The homewrecker Montague’, ‘Home Secretary’s secret affair with married bodyguard’, ‘The Home Secretary’s new toy boy’, and the worst: ‘UK Home Secretary shagging toy boy bodyguard in fancy hotel on taxpayer’s money’, or: ‘Is a wanton cougar fit for the Home Office?’.

Ella sits back onto the sofa. Shocked. Tears in her eyes: “how can they say such cruel things? They don’t know anything. They don’t know Davy… they don’t truly know you either, Julia…”.

Julia sits on the sofa next to Ella and puts an arm on her shoulder: “that’s how it is. It’s part of being a public figure. Our private lives are continually scrutinized. They don’t need to know anything to pass judgment. They just do it”. Julia sighs, then she continues, trying to comfort Ella: “this is just the initial craze. They will get tired of us, eventually. We will become boring old news. Just another couple going on a walk or doing their shopping together”. Ella is still crying. Julia pulls her onto her shoulder and hugs her until she calms down.

David is standing behind the sofa with his walker, watching the television as well as his mother and Julia. He has put on his stoic face but he is visibly upset too. He is used to Julia being always in the spotlight. He is not used to himself in that role, though. And he certainly is not used to having his own private life under such scrutiny. But what hurts the most are those cruel words about his Julia.

Frances approaches the coffee table, takes the remote, and turns the television off: “there’s no point keeping this on. We now know what they are saying. It’s going to be more of the same for the rest of the day”.

Then she turns to Ella: “it’s not easy but you will get used to this, eventually. Just remember, the persons we know, the true Julia and David are right here. The personas we see on television are made up by the journalists and based on simple pieces of information such as David’s official marital status and their age difference. They are not real. They are not who our children are.”.

She makes a sad smile and continues: “it is difficult. We all love our children. We are all proud of their achievements. Seeing the constant criticism, seeing your child being ripped apart on the telly for everything she says is really, really, hard. Julia’s father Richard and I used to cry in front of the evening news almost every day. It took us a long time before we got used to all that falsehood and the personal attacks. But in the end we did. Now I just ignore what they say. I just think of the Julia I know, not the portrait made by people who have no idea”.

She sits by Ella and puts an arm behind her back: “you can do that too, Ella. Just ignore what they say. It’s not the truth. You know it. I know it. Our children are in love and happy together. The rest is all made up and will go away eventually. Their relationship is strong and will survive this and that’s all that matters”.

Ella raises her head, still crying, and looks at Frances: “I am so, so, sorry, Frances…”, Frances looks puzzled: “sorry?”, Ella nods: “the first time we met, when we realized our children were in a relationship together, I though just like them”, she is pointing at the television, “I did not know Julia at all. I only knew the television portrait and I immediately passed judgment. I thought she was such a bad match for my Davy. I even told you…”.

She cries harder now: “your child was fighting for her life. You were as worried and as terrified as I was, and yet, I had the guts to tell you that your child was not good enough for mine! I was so horrible! I am so sorry!”, she is sobbing now.

Frances shakes her head and smiles sweetly: “you weren’t horrible at all. You said what you thought and you did that very politely. I explained that my Julia is not the person we see on the telly and you immediately got the message. Believe me, that’s way, way better than I am used to”.

Frances looks at Ella smiling softly: “we are friends now, aren’t we?”, Ella nods: “and Julia is like a daughter to me…”, Frances smiles: “well, that’s way better than most mothers-in-law I know!”.

Frances laughs and gets up: “come on, let’s help our lovebirds settle in their new life together, now. That’s the true exciting news of the day. Our children are recovering and are moving in together. They are starting a new life and we should all celebrate it”, she reaches with her hand, takes Ella’s and helps her up the sofa.

Julia gets up too and walks to her mother with her crutch. She does not say a word. She just hugs her. Frances returns her hug, surprised at that unusual display of affection from her daughter. After a long hug Julia murmurs: “I had no idea my life choices were affecting you and father so much. I am so sorry…”, Frances smiles sweetly: “your father was very proud of you and so am I. We respected your choices and we were always your biggest fans. I still am, Julia. I always will be. I hope you know that, even if in our family we are not very good at expressing our feelings”, Julia nods: “maybe we can learn from the Budd family…”.

Frances smiles: “maybe”, then she turns to the others with a matter-of-fact Montague tone: “let’s settle you in, now”. She explains: “last night Ella and I have moved our things. We will share the guest room”, Julia nods: “thanks, I am sorry it’s one large bed. I have been thinking about replacing it with two singles, but I never got around to do that”.

Ella smiles: “not a problem, Julia. I am used to sharing a bed and I am sure your mother does not snore as loudly as Davy’s father!”, Frances laughs: “or Richard… he used to be a big snorer even though he never admitted it”, Julia chuckles: “once I even video recorded him to present him with the evidence and he still denied it”, Frances laughs: “and as a lawyer he should have known what does or does not constitute evidence”, Julia chuckles: “not when it came to himself”.

Mother and daughter smile sweetly, thinking of their deceased loved one. Julia sighs: “I miss him so much…”, it’s the first time she admits it to her mother. Or to anyone, for that matter. Until now she has kept it to herself and even avoided the topic with her mother. The two women smile at each other sweetly. Their eyes wet. They can finally grieve together.

David approaches Julia, lets go of his walker, hugs her tightly, and murmurs in her ear: “I wish I could have met him”, she smiles sweetly, hugs him, and looks into his eyes lovingly. They say nothing, they just kiss tenderly.

Ella and Frances smile softly, then Ella walks to the master bedroom: “where can I put David’s clothes?”, Julia lets go of David’s embrace and walks there with her crutch. She opens one of the two large walk in wardrobes: “here. I have been using both, but I can move these suits to the other wardrobe”, She takes a few of the suits and moves them. Frances intercedes: “let me, Julia, you are not supposed to lift weights with that hand”. Instead of scoffing the way she usually would, Julia smiles: “thank you mother. I appreciate your help”.

Frances smiles sweetly: “of course, in the meanwhile, why don’t you make room for David’s underwear?”, Julia blushes and walks to the chest of drawers. She moves her things around and frees up one of the large drawers. Then she walks to his hospital suitcase which is sitting open on the bed, takes his boxers and t-shirts and moves them to the drawer. She also unpacks her own underwear.

David is watching, standing by the door, with his walker. Julia smiles at him sweetly: “you look tired, love, you should lie down. You have walked and stood much longer than usual today”, he smiles sweetly: “you should rest too, love. You haven’t had your nap yet and I am sure your leg can use the rest too”, she nods: “I know, I will. Soon, I promise”, he smiles softly: “I will go to the living room. It’s rather busy here”, he is looking at the bed with their two open suitcases on. He turns around, walks back to the living room, and lies on one of the two sofas.

Ella smiles: “why don’t you join him, Julia? Your mother and I can finish unpacking”, Frances nods: “we have also arranged for the PPO to drive us to David’s flat and pack the rest of his things”, Ella adds shyly: “I hope you two don’t mind our intruding. We are just trying to help…”, Julia chuckles: “it’s fine by me, as long as David doesn’t mind. It’s his things, after all…”, Ella nods: “aye, I should ask him…”, and she walks to the living room. After a few minutes she returns: “he is fine with that and he said you should join him in the living room and rest too, Julia”, she smiles: “fine, fine…”, and leaves the bedroom, carrying a soft throw.

David is lying on one sofa, his eyes closed. Julia goes to the window and closes the curtains, then she approaches him quietly and whispers: “are you sleeping?”, he opens his eyes: “just resting”, she puts the throw on him and asks: “are you in pain?”, he nods: “a bit…”, she goes to the kitchen and returns with a glass of water and two pills: “the doctor said we should take acetaminophen for pain. Here is your dose, love”, he swallows the pills: “thanks, love”.

Then he moves against the back of the sofa: “are you joining me?”, she smiles: “I can use the other sofa, you know…”, he looks disappointed: “no more cuddles then?”, she sits by him, gently strokes his cheek, and gives him a tender kiss: “I am just worried we’ll be too tight a fit and you’ll be in pain”, he smiles sweetly: “this is a large sofa. There’s plenty of room for the two of us”, she puts her crutch down by the sofa, lies beneath the throw next to him, and snuggles under his arm. Her head in the crook of his neck, her arm hugging his chest. He holds her in his arms and kisses her hair lovingly: “see? We fit just fine”.

She raises her head and gives him a soft kiss: “you know, I was never fond of cuddles…”, then she leans her head down onto him again and whispers: “and now I love them. The things you have done to me, David Budd…”, he giggles: “all good I hope”, she chuckles: “mostly…”, he pretends to be offended: “mostly?!?”.

Then he tickles her, moving her under him. She squirms and giggles: “stop that, David!”, he giggles, stops the tickling, and looks into her eyes: “I love you so much, Julia”, she smiles very, very, sweetly, wraps her arms around his neck, and whispers: “I love you too. Very much”, they kiss. A long loving kiss.

They don’t know that their mothers had just walked back into the living room and have heard that last exchange. They stand quietly and smile at each other, then they tiptoe to the kitchen. Ella whispers: “that was sooo romantic!”, Frances nods smiling sweetly: “let’s go and get David’s things now. This will give them time alone and time to rest”.

She texts the PPO who texts back right away: ‘car ready in 5’. They take two empty suitcases each and leave the flat. As they are leaving Frances calls aloud: “we are off, back in a few hours”, they hear Julia’s voice from the living room: “see you later!”.

When they leave the building, the journalists are still there, but they ignore the two women. Luckily, they don’t know who they are. Ella remarks: “I wish I could just go there and give them all the good spanking they deserve!”, Frances chuckles: “I too, wish you could do that. It’d be quite the spectacle!”, they both giggle and walk to the waiting car.

While Frances and Ella are away, Julia and David sleep on the sofa, all cuddled up. About an hour later he wakes up and remains quiet for several minutes until she stirs, waking up too. He whispers: “slept well, love?”, she answers softly, cozily snuggled into him: “mmmm… very well”.

Then she remains quiet for a while. He smiles: “penny for your thoughts…”, she chuckles: “gosh you do know how to be cheesy”, he chuckles too: “aye, sure do, ma’am”, she raises her head: “regrets yet?”, he shakes his head: “not at all, we knew they’d do that…”, she nods: “you looked quite upset earlier”, he kisses her: “I knew it’d happen but I still didn’t like to see all of those awful headlines on you, my love”.

She smiles sweetly: “the old Tory cow… may I remind you that’s what you used to think of me too?”, he shakes his head: “but this has nothing to do with your politics. These are misogynistic attacks on a woman with power and a successful career who dares to have a boyfriend who happens to be younger and less powerful than her…”.

She raises her head, looks into his eyes, and smiles wittily: “exactly… and this gives me a fantastic opportunity to address double standards in politics and society. I think this may be an opportunity to induce the journalist’s association to modify their deontological statement and code of conduct to include considerations of gender equality in how they cover these kind of stories”, he chuckles: “always the politician…”, she smiles: “well, that should not come as a surprise…”, he nods: “not at all”, then he reaches for her lips for a long kiss.

She lies her head back into the crook of his neck and goes quiet again. He strokes her hair gently: “another penny?”, she chuckles and murmurs: “really, you don’t mind it that I am 9 years older than you?”, he keeps stroking her hair: “why would I? It doesn’t matter, does it? It’s whether or not we are happy together and compatible that matters”, she sounds unsure: “of course, but…”.

He gently lifts her head up to look into her eyes: “it doesn’t matter at all, love. You are my bright, clever, witty, sweet, beautiful, and sexy Julia. Why would I care about your age?”.

He gives her a soft kiss then asks: “do you mind that I am younger?”, she smiles softly, shaking her head: “it makes no difference”, he kisses her again: “exactly. We are two grownups who have fallen for each other. It’s not that I am a minor…”, she chuckles: “not from what I have experienced…”, he laughs, then he tickles her.

She squirms, laughing: “now you are behaving like a minor, love”, he giggles, stops the tickling and begins stroking her body sensually, his hands reaching under her clothes. Her nipples, her thighs, in between her thighs, inside her knickers... Throughout, she moans. He chuckles: “is this grown up enough?”, she murmurs: “absolutely… and don’t you dare to stop that now…”, he smiles sweetly: “wasn’t planning to…”, she reaches for his lips and gives him a long sensual kiss. He continues touching her… she reaches for his sex and moves her hand along his hard length…

About 2 hours later, David and Julia are still lying on the sofa when their mothers return from their expedition to David’s flat. They have recruited Tom and Kim to help carry several suitcases and a large box. When they hear the commotion, Julia and David raise their heads.

Kim walks into the living room carrying two suitcases: “Skip, Julia, where do you want these?”. They sit up on the sofa. Julia answers: “in the master bedroom, thank you very much, Kim”, then she moves to get up, Kim smiles: “I know where that is, you can stay where you are. You two looked rather relaxed”, Julia smiles: “taking a break after the media storm we’ve caused today”,

Kim chuckles: “they’ve approached even Tom and me. They wanted to know whether you sleep with us too”, David laughs: “in a big happy orgy?”, Tom has walked in too: “something like that…”, Julia smirks: “I am so sorry you are having to deal with those questions…”, Kim laughs: “don’t worry, Julia. I am actually having fun. Can I answer that I do sleep with you and Skip? Please, please, please… the look on their faces would be priceless”, Julia laughs: “priceless indeed, but let’s leave that to some other time, shall we?”, they all laugh.

Then Tom and Kim continue bringing in David’s things. Ella and Frances direct them to put the suitcases in various rooms. One contains children’s clothes. Frances smiles: “that would go to the guest room, thank you Kim”. A large box contains kitchen supplies. Ella instructs: “you can leave that on the counter, thank you, Tom”.

Julia smirks: “I didn’t realize you had so much stuff, Sergeant Budd”, he laughs: “neither did I!”, Frances explains: “we emptied every wardrobe and every drawer”, Ella adds: “and bookcases”, Frances continues: “and the bathroom and kitchen cabinets”.

David looks surprised: “you have emptied my flat!”, Ella nods: “that was the idea, wasn’t it? Now you can cancel your lease”, Julia smiles at him sweetly: “regrets, love?”, he shakes his head: “no, no, I only hope you don’t mind the home invasion”, she chuckles: “not at all”.

Then she gets up and walks to her home office with her crutch. She looks around: “we can easily add a second desk and a couple of bookshelves in here”, Tom picks up a suitcase: “then I can leave this in there. It contains the books”, then he walks back outside and returns with David’s computer and puts it down in a corner of Julia’s desk.

Kim looks at Julia and David: “if you order those pieces of furniture I’d be happy to help assemble them. I am quite good with tools, modestly speaking”, Julia smiles: “thanks Kim. I appreciate your offer. I will call the company that has set up that room, to get matching furniture”. 

In that moment, Julia’s cell phone rings. She looks at the screen and groans: “it’s the PM, I must take this, sorry folks”, then she makes a sad smirk: “if he deems the scandal is too much for the party, this may be a request for my resignations…”, she swipes on the screen and answers with cheerful voice: “hello Thomas… yes, we are at home, doing much better… thanks”, as she speaks, she walks to the study and closes the door.

Meanwhile, the others remain in the living room, looking worried. Kim looks at David: “as annoying as the journalists may be to you, you shouldn’t forget that she is taking quite the gamble on her career for you. I hope you appreciate that, Skip”, David nods: “I do… I can only hope I am worth the risk…”, Frances smiles sweetly: “obviously, Julia thinks you are and I agree with her, David…”.

A couple of minutes later, they are all still in the living room when David receives a text message. He looks at his phone: “it’s Julia”, the message contains a thumb up emoji and a link.

He taps on the link, reads, then smiles at the others: “the office of the PM has issued a press release too”, Ella inquires, sounding rather anxious: “supportive, I hope”, David smiles: “it is”, then he reads it aloud: “today the PM was happy to learn that the Home Secretary of the UK, the Right Honorable Julia Elizabeth Montague, and her partner Sergeant David Budd have left the hospital several weeks after the St Matthews College explosion. The PM wishes Ms. Montague and Mr. Budd a restful and continued recovery at their home. The PM is looking forward to Ms. Montague’s return to Cabinet and the Home Office when she is fully recovered”.

They all smile happily. Frances heaves a sigh of relief: “no request for resignation…”, Tom comments: “the new acting PM needs her expertise. And he surely does not need any more scandals”, then he looks at David: “and your romance is frankly the last of this government’s concerns…”, David smiles: “I should hope so!”, Ella agrees: “it’s the journalists who deserve a good spanking”, Frances chuckles: “I so wish you could do that, Ella”, they all laugh.

About 40 minutes later the call with the PM is over and Julia walks out of her study. Kim and Tom have left. They are outside, guarding the doors. David is lying on the sofa with his laptop. Ella and Frances are in the kitchen.

Julia sits by David and gives him a soft kiss: “seen the press release?”, David takes her hand and caresses it softly, pulling her into him for another kiss: “aye, rather supportive”, she smiles: “he wanted to know what other mitigating strategies we have. I told him we will do the BBC interview with John Smith”, he nods: “aye, we will”, she kisses him again: “sorry love, I know you are not too keen”, he smiles: “I just have to get used to the idea. Don’t worry, love. I will be fine”, she gives him another kiss and whispers: “thank you…”.

Then she continues: “he also asked me to begin taking on more work, compatibly with my concussion. He knows Mike has been consulting with me. He just wants to officialise that. So Mike will come by tomorrow”.

Then Julia changes topic: “have you heard from Vicky?”, he nods: “I have just called her…”, she smiles: “how are things being for her and the children?”, “fairly quiet for now. Nobody has tried to approach them, even though one of Vic’s co-workers has received an odd note from a journalist”, she rolls her eyes: “gosh they truly don’t stop at anything, do they?”, he nods: “Vic’s friend didn’t even know what that was about. She just told them to bugger off”, Julia chuckles: “good for her”.

How about the children?”, “they are completely oblivious of all of this. Nobody has approached them at school and Vic is making sure they don’t see the news on the telly. She has them watch children programs on Netflix for now”.

Then he adds: “they like their PPO, Anthony. They already consider him their friend, especially Charlie”, he smiles, happy that his predictions about the PPO were correct.

Then he continues: “Vic said outside of the hospital it was still a circus. Luckily the journalists don’t know who she is so she was able to sneak out without a problem. She actually walked right through them and they completely ignored her”.

She leans towards him and gives him a kiss: “mother said it is still a circus outside of this building too and they will not ignore us. They will be after us whenever we exit the building. I hope I am worth all of this hassle for you, David”, he nods with a soft smile: “right beside you. That’s where I want to be, my love. You are my choice, Julia. Always…”, she smiles sweetly and gives him another long kiss.

Then, she takes her crutch and walks towards the kitchen: “let’s see what those two are up to now”. Frances and Ella are busy unpacking a large box. They are piling the kitchen supplies from David’s flat on the counter. Frances looks at her daughter: “it’s good you are here, Julia. We were wondering where we should put these”.

David walks in behind Julia, pushing his walker: “those are all rather cheap things. We can throw them away if you already have enough kitchen supplies”, Julia is sensitive to his need to have his familiar objects around. She picks up a plate: “these are actually cute”, he laughs and shakes his head: “they aren’t! They are actually quite ugly. Julia, when Vic and I broke up I just chose some random and cheap plates. We don’t have to keep them. Yours are much nicer. Let’s just give these to some charity”.

She picks up two plates. One with Little Ponies and the other with Thomas the Train: “well, we certainly cannot give these away!”, David laughs: “aye, Ella and Charlie will be happy if we keep those”, Julia puts them in the cupboard: “they will be right here”, then she picks up some colorful mugs with drawings of cartoon characters: “and these”, she puts them in the same cupboard. She moves a few items to a different cupboard: “we can assign this to be the children’s shelf”. They smile at each other sweetly.

Then she picks up a Police Academy mug: “and we certainly cannot give this away”, David laughs: “oh that goes way, way back”, she slaps his arm: “don’t say that. Then my University College London mug from the Faculty of Law is ancient!”, he smirks: “if you say so…”, she playfully swats his arm again: “hey, you…”. Then she puts his Police Academy mug in the cupboard right next to her Faculty of Law mug. She gives him a sweet gaze. He reciprocates it: “aye, they belong together…”.

Then she picks up a bottle opener in the shape of women breasts and smirks: “a gift from an admirer?”, David laughs: “it was Kim, actually. She thought I needed something to cheer me up”.

Julia smiles: “you and Kim are good friends, aren’t you?”, “aye, she was really close after the break up. She helped me find my flat and set it all up. You know, she wasn’t boasting earlier. She really is good with tools…”, he looks at Julia with sad eyes: “I wasn’t in a very good place back then. Kim and her partner were my only friends. Tom was really supportive too, but Kim was just special”.

Julia smiles sweetly: “then we should have Kim and Tom over for dinner at some point, with their partners”, he nods: “that would be nice. Thanks for being so open towards my friends”, she seems surprised: “why wouldn’t I be?”, he smiles sweetly: “oh you do know…”.

She walks up to him and leans in to kiss him from across the walker: “I really _don’t_ know, love. If you and I are a couple, then your friends are welcome here, in _our_ flat. It’s that simple, really”, he leans in for another kiss: “have I mentioned how wonderful you are yet?”, she smirks: “yea, but I can always take a repeat…”, they both laugh and kiss again.

They finish sorting through David’s kitchen supplies, then Ella shoos them away: “off you go to rest now, lovers. I will make dinner”, Frances smiles: “happy to help. I don’t do much cooking, but I can follow directions…”.

Ella laughs, takes potatoes out of the pantry and puts them in the sink: “you can peel potatoes, can’t you?”, Frances chuckles: “I sure can give that a try”, then she grabs the potato peeler and quickly and skillfully peels a few, putting them in a bowl full of water to avoid blackening. Ella smirks: “not that bad in the kitchen, then”, Frances laughs: “I can do a few things”.

Julia smirks: “and that is way more than I can do. I am not much of a housewife, I am afraid”, David laughs: “I wouldn’t expect you to. Way too busy running the country…”, Ella smiles proudly: “instead, Davy is not a bad cook. I taught him many recipes when he was a lad”.

He chuckles: “don’t raise too high expectations, ma”, Julia smirks: “too late, love, now I expect you to prepare delicious dinners every night”, he smirks: “no more take-away?”, she laughs: “I don’t think I can ever be weaned off take-away”, they all laugh. Then Ella shoos them away: “off to the sofa, you two. Get the rest you need”.


	8. New beginnings, new surprises, old endings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their life as a couple begins with a little twist and some planning.

The evening of the day of their release from hospital and the announcement of their relationship, Julia and David are resting on the sofa when Ella calls: “dinner is ready!”. They walk back to the kitchen, Julia with her crutch and David with his walker. The mothers have set up two plates on the bar, by the stools, and two on the table. Frances explains: “we thought it’d be easier on your injuries if you did not sit on low chairs”. Julia smiles: “that was very thoughtful of you, thank you, ladies. Yes, the stools are easier”.

Ella plates the roast meat and potatoes and a few baked vegetables, and pours her famous homemade gravy on the meat. They all begin eating. Julia smiles: “this is delicious, Ella. Thank you for making it!”, Ella acts all modest now: “oh it’s nothing special…”, but she is beaming at the compliment. Julia smiles at her sweetly.

In that moment, the doorbell rings. Then they hear Tom’s voice: “madam, there is a visitor. Mr. Robert MacDonald. He is on your approved list. Should I let him in?”, Julia replies: “yes… sure. Come on in, Rob. Join us for dinner”. She is surprised. After today’s revelation of her relationship with David she did not expect Rob to show up.

Rob walks into the kitchen carrying a huge bouquet of roses and a bottle of wine: “hello Julia, since I couldn’t visit you in hospital, I thought I’d welcome you home. Mike has told me you left the hospital this morning”, Julia nods: “oh you haven’t seen it on the telly?”, Rob shakes his head: “I was in meetings with Mike all day. I haven’t had any time to look up the news yet. I came straight here from the office”, Julia sighs. Of all people, Rob is the one who is going to learn it the hard way.

“Mother, Ella, this is Robert MacDonald, Special Advisor to the Home Secretary. Rob, please meet my mother, Frances Montague, and David’s mother, Ella Budd. And of course you know David”, Rob nods and smiles kindly: “Sergeant Budd, I should thank you for saving our Julia’s life. The video showed quite the heroic gesture on your part”, David nods with a half-smile and his stern bodyguard frown.

Rob walks up to Julia and smiles at her sweetly: “how are you feeling, Julia?”, then he reaches with his hand and strokes her hand on the counter. She gently but unequivocally shakes it off: “I am feeling much better, thank you, Rob”.

Ella can sense some awkwardness. She fills a plate and puts it on the table: “please have dinner with us, Mr. MacDonald. Julia and David are sitting there because the stools are easier on their injuries, but we can sit at the table, instead”.

Rob looks confused. Why is PS Budd’s mother serving food if she is a guest? Maybe she is just being nice, helping because Julia is injured… He sits down and begins eating, making light conversation: “were you released from hospital today too, Sergeant?”, David nods: “aye, Julia and I have left together”, Frances adds: “had you watched the news you would have seen that. The video is being broadcasted over and over”.

Rob nods: “of course, Julia is an important person”, then he looks at David curiously. He has never heard him call Julia by her first name, but he doesn’t make much of it. Saving his principal’s life twice may entitle him to some liberties. He continues with the conversation: “are you all here to celebrate your release from hospital?”, Julia chuckles: “you can say that!”.

Then she gets up, takes her crutch, and walks to the table. She picks up the bottle Rob has brought: “is this for us?”, Rob makes a happy smile: “of course. And the flowers. I thought you and I could have a quiet night with a glass of wine”, David squirms on his stool. He knows Rob has a soft spot for Julia and he knows Julia has never corresponded it. Still, he can’t help feeling a pang of jealousy. Julia can see that and smiles at him sweetly.

Then she looks at Rob: “it is a very good wine. David and I are not really supposed to mix alcohol with our pain medications, but for this one time… mind if I open it?”, Rob smiles: “of course I don’t mind!”.

Julia opens the bottle and pours 5 glasses. She gives one each. Then she returns to sit by David. Rob raises his glass: “to your return home and a full recovery”, they all join the toast. Julia looks into David’s eyes sweetly and toasts with him: “to our discharge from hospital and a new beginning”.

They continue with their dinner. Rob keeps chatting, being all friendly with Frances, assuming oddly informal tones, as if she was his mother in law, at some point even implying him and Julia would visit her in Cheltenham soon. Julia repeatedly rolls her eyes and winks at David who keeps squirming uneasily on his stool.

At the end of the dinner, she puts her hand on David’s: “you look pale, love. Are you in pain again?”, he looks into her eyes softly and nods: “aye… a bit. I think I just need to lie down again”. She gets up and brings him the container with their acetaminophen. He swallows two pills, then he gets up and takes his walker: “I will lie in bed this time. It’s more comfortable than the sofa”.

She smiles sweetly, leans in and gives him a soft kiss: “I will join you soon. My head is starting to bother me”, he looks concerned now: “then you shouldn’t stay up. We had a busy day. We both need rest”, she nods, looking into his eyes sweetly. David walks away with his walker, towards the master bedroom.

At this point Rob is totally baffled. Was that a kiss? Did she really say love? And why is he going to the bedroom? It can’t be… he stares at Julia. She is still looking at David walking away: “I have put your pajamas in the top drawer, love”, he turns back with a soft smile: “thanks love, see you in a bit. Don’t stay up too late”, she smiles sweetly: “I won’t, don’t worry”.

As soon as David has left the room Rob stutters: “ar-, are you and PS Budd…”, Frances smiles graciously: “had you watched the news you’d know it, Mr. MacDonald”, Julia smirks: “it’s the scandal of the day…”.

Rob goes very pale. At this point Julia is worried he may pass out. But he makes a remarkably quick recovery. Almost too quick. He looks at Julia sternly. He is clearly angry now: “but he is just a policeman…”, she scoffs: “that is too classist even for you to say, Rob”, his voice is shaking now: “him Julia, how could you?”, she looks at him sternly: “it really is none of your business, Rob”.

He shakes his head: “what about me?”, she tries to keep calm and go easy on him: “what about, Rob? There never was anything other than a professional relationship between you and me”, he nods, his eyes wide with sorrow and anger: “but I thought… maybe…”, Julia becomes impatient now: “maybe what, Rob? I have never, not once, responded to your many and frankly inappropriate advances. Anybody else would have got the message by now”.

Rob looks clearly hurt, his eyes shiny with tears: “Julia the two of you belong to two different worlds. What do you even have to talk about with that- … that bloke?”, Julia really loses her patience now: “I won’t tolerate that tone about David, Rob”.

Then she gets up: “and I really need to lie down now. My concussion is beginning to act up”. She is not lying. She is looking pale and she is taking deep breaths, a sign that she is feeling dizzy and nauseous. Ella walks up to her, looking worried: “let me help you to bed, dear”, Frances looks worried too: “I will make you a ginger tea for your nausea”, Ella holds her arm as Julia slowly walks to her bedroom with her crutch: “thank you, Ella. Goodnight Rob”.

As she is filling the kettle for Julia’s tea, Frances makes a formal Montague gracious smile: “please, allow me to walk you to the door Mr. MacDonald”, Rob declines: “thank you, Mrs. Montague. That won’t be necessary. I know my way”, he picks up his coat and meekly walks away.

Rob has just exited the flat when his cell phone rings: “Mr. Penhaligon… yes I have just learned that, I am leaving her flat now… I can’t go back sir, she was going to bed… yes I can do that”, he closes the conversation. The phone rings again, he swipes it. This time it’s a Skype call.

Roger is on video: “go back in there, Rob. I want to talk to her and she is not answering my calls”, Rob stutters: “I- I-, I can’t sir. She was not feeling well…”, Roger is angry now: “she was bullshitting you Rob, go back in there and make sure I talk to her, now!”, Rob bows his head and walks back to the flat.

The night PPO has just begun his shift. He finds Rob’s name in the visitors list and lets him in: “Ms. Montague, a visitor for you”, Frances walks to the door and is surprised: “what are you doing back here, Mr. MacDonald? Julia went to bed. You know it”.

Rob nods shyly: “Mr. Penhaligon here wants to talk to his wife”, Frances is not going to have any of that. She grabs Rob’s phone and speaks sternly: “leave her alone, Roger. You know she does not want to talk to you”, Roger makes a smug smirk: “because she’d rather fuck that plod?”, Frances is angry now: “that is really none of your business, Roger. Considering how your marriage ended, this little jealousy tirade is rather pathetic, really”. Meanwhile Ella has approached and is watching the unfolding scene.

Roger snaps: “return the phone to Rob, Frances. It’s not yours to keep”, Frances sneers: “especially because it carries an idiot on video”, she hands the phone to Rob.

Roger shouts at him: “fuck, Rob, you know what you must do now!”, Rob nods, suddenly dashes forward, and runs to Julia’s bedroom, holding his phone straight in front of him so that Roger can see ahead. Frances is taken by surprise by the unexpected move. Ella isn’t. She runs to the flat’s door and rushes the PPO in.

Meanwhile Rob has reached the bedroom and the phone’s camera is showing David and Julia lying in bed in their usual cuddly position. Her head in the crook of his neck by his collarbone. Her arm hugging his chest. Her eyes closed. His arms lovingly wrapped around her. His head leaning against hers. His eyes closed too.

Roger screams: “what the fuck, Julia!!”, David raises his head, his eyes immediately alert and ready for action. Julia raises her aching head slowly and murmurs: “Roger?!?”.

In that moment, the night PPO grabs Rob’s arm and violently pulls him back, turning him away from Julia. He throws him to the floor, twists his arm around his back, and leans with his knee into his spine to immobilize him. Rob lets out a whine of pain. The PPO puts handcuffs on his wrists behind his back and pats his body thoroughly, checking for weapons.

Frances picks up Rob’s cell phone from the floor where he has dropped it: “your puppet is being arrested, goodbye Roger”, and she closes the Skype call.

Meanwhile, two police agents rush into the flat with their guns out, called for back-up by the PPO: “is he armed?”, “are you all right Ms. Montague?”.

Still holding Julia in his arms, David answers automatically, as if he was still her PPO: “Lavender is unhurt and the suspect is restrained and unarmed. You can proceed with the arrest, Constable”, the PPO nods: “a police car is waiting. We are to take him downstairs”, the other PPO smiles: “thank you Sergeant Budd. We will return soon to collect a statement from each of you”. They walk a very subdue handcuffed Rob away.

Julia is still not feeling well. She speaks slowly, with slurred voice: “what was that all about?”, David whispers in her ear: “it’s all good, my love. Just Rob and Roger being idiots. We can explain later. Do rest now. You really need it tonight”, she does not argue. She leans her head down in the crook of his neck again and closes her eyes. She is asleep in seconds, her concussed brain badly needing the rest.

David waits a few minutes, to make sure she is well into sleep, then he gently moves her off his body and slowly gets up. She continues sleeping, hugging a pillow as if it was David. He looks at her sleeping figure and feels a flood of deep affection for her. His indomitable and formidable Home Secretary looks so vulnerable right now…. He so wants to be by her side and always protect her from the rest of the world…

He wears a robe and pushes his walker out of the bedroom. He closes the door behind himself, goes to the living room, and lies on one sofa, waiting for the police to return.

The night PPO is still in the flat, talking to Frances and Ella, sounding very contrite: “I am glad all is resolved well. I am so sorry I have let him in. He was on the approved visitors’ list and he was listed as having just visited. I thought he had forgotten something”, Frances smiles kindly: “I know, young man. It was not your wrongdoing”.

David nods: “you are good, Constable. Not your mistake. You did well when you were called in. Nice and decisive take-down maneuver. Swift and efficacious, directing the potential danger away from the principal. I will make sure I mention that in my statement”, the PPO smiles: “thank you Sergeant Budd”.

A few minutes later, two police officers arrive. They take statements from those present then leave: “someone will come by tomorrow for the Home Secretary’s statement”, David smiles: “thank you Constable. I appreciate that. She is not feeling well right now”, the police officer smiles: “of course, Sergeant”, then they all leave. 

The following day, as per her usual habit, Ella puts the morning show on the telly. It is having a special program on couples where the woman is significantly older than the man. The title is: ‘Age Hypogamic Relationships: The Cougar Effect’. The photo in the background is of Julia and David leaving the hospital together.

There are a psychologist and a journalist discussing what brings an older woman to want a younger man and why a young man would agree to it. They are debating whether it could be a form of Oedipus complex. Ella angrily turns the television off: “what utter rubbish! They don’t call it a ‘complex’ when it is a woman who loves an older man, do they?”.

Julia is up early, sitting on the sofa with her laptop, going over her work email. She raises her head and smirks: “didn’t you want to listen? Don’t you want to learn what is wrong with your son?”, Ella snaps: “there is nothing wrong with Davy!”, Julia chuckles: “sorry, Ella, I was just teasing you. My mother is right, you know, you are better off ignoring them”, Ella nods, still angry: “aye, I will”.

Then Ella gets up and walks towards the kitchen: “what would you like for breakfast, Julia?”, she smiles: “just black coffee for now. But I can make it myself. You don’t need to always work so hard, Ella”, Ella smiles: “I will make a big pot, for everybody. Frances and Davy will be up soon”, and goes to the kitchen.

An hour later, Julia and Ella are drinking their coffees in the living room. Julia is still working at her laptop. David walks in with his walker, in his pajamas. Ella smiles: “morning Davy”, Julia turns and looks at him. His hair is all ruffled and his eyes still look sleepy. Her heart melts... simply adorable… She smiles sweetly: “morning love. Did we wake you up?”, he approaches the sofa from behind and leans towards her. She turns her head. They kiss, then he takes her coffee from her hand and takes a long sip: “not really. This is my usual wake up time”.

She puts her laptop down, smiles sweetly, and gets up: “time for your shower”. They walk to the en suite bathroom. She undresses then she helps him undress too. Then he lets go of his walker. He leans his hands onto her shoulders while she helps him step into the bath. She gets in too, turns the water on and washes him while he holds onto a grab bar their mothers have had installed before their discharge from hospital.

She washes his hair first. Then she pours some body wash onto a soft cloth and sweeps it onto his body, being especially delicate and gentle when the cloth is over his healing scars and burned skin. Then she takes the handheld shower head and rinses him thoroughly. After taking care of him, she washes herself too. When they are done, she helps him out of the bath and gently dries him with a soft towel while he holds himself onto the walker again.

He sighs: “thanks for helping love… I feel like an old man…”, she reaches with her arms around him and pulls their naked bodies together. She rubs herself against his sex. Rather quickly, he has the expected response. She whispers: “nope, not an old man”, he giggles: “well you know what happens when you do that…”, she looks down at his erection and smiles naughtily: “we can’t leave you like that now, can we?”.

She puts her hand on his walker and leads him to the bed. She has him lie down, then she kneels next to him and kisses him sensually, moving her hand over his sex, slowly at first, then more and more quickly. He begins panting and moaning. She quiets him with a long kiss. She continues until he suddenly spills in her hand with a deep groan.

She smiles tenderly: “good morning my love”, he looks at her lovingly, then he pats the bed next to him. She lies down and he returns the favor, bringing her off with his skilled hands.

Afterwards, they lie in bed for several minutes, cuddling. Eventually, she raises her head up and giggles sweetly: “now we need another shower…”, they return to the en suite and shower together again. She giggles: “our house guests will be wondering about all these showers”, he chuckles: “maybe not, they are not that naïve…”.

A few days later, Ella and Frances are out for a walk. There is a knock then the front door opens and Kim’s voice announces: “visitor for you, madam. Not on the approved list, but unarmed. He says he has an appointment with you”.

Julia walks to the front door with her crutch: “hello Mr. Stones, please come in. Sorry I forgot to inform you that he was coming today, Kim”, then she shows him to the study and the guest bedroom. They talk for a while.

David is lying on the bed, working on his laptop. He hears Julia’s voice calling his name and gets up, pushing his walker to Julia and the visitor who are now standing in the guest bedroom.

She smiles at him: “love, Mr. Stones is the decorator who helped me when I moved to this flat. He is here to consider options to renovate the study room to accommodate the two of us. And now we are discussing how to redecorate the guest bedroom, to make it suitable for the children”.

David looks rather surprised. They haven’t talked about making changes to the flat for his children. She approaches him: “what? Don’t you like the idea?”, he smiles sweetly: “of course I like it. What were you thinking?”, she explains: “we may set up loft beds so that under each bed we can fit a desk for when they do their homework”, he smiles: “that’s exactly how I have set up their bedroom in my flat. Maybe we can just move that furniture here”, she smiles: “good idea”.

Mr. Stones nods: “would you happen to have photos of that bedroom, Mr. Montague?”, she smirks. He just smiles and takes his cell phone out of his jeans’ back pocket. He swipes through several photos: “I don’t have photos of the furniture specifically, but I do have photos of the children taken in that room. They may show enough of the furniture”, he keeps scrolling, until he stops on a photo of Charlie making a goofy grin: “this, for example”, he swipes some more: “and this…”.

Mr. Stones is watching: “it seems those will fit well here. We can set up the two beds and desks and still have plenty of room for the chest of drawers and bookshelves”, Julia is watching too: “that’s good, we will be able to empty those”, she is pointing at two colorful carryons with the children’s clothes and a box full of toys, sitting in a corner. David notices them only now. He had not been in the guest bedroom yet and he had not realized the two mothers had brought over even his children’s things.

Julia smiles and continues, pointing at the photos in David’s phone: “they look cute. I like those bright colors”, David smiles: “well, they are for children. Not top fashion, and no fancy design, I am afraid”, she smiles: “not everything in here is design furniture, David”. He nods. Vicky’s warning against assuming class differences are a major factor in their relationship flashes through his mind. He makes a contrite face: “sorry love, I didn’t mean to imply that…”. She nods, smiling softly. He looks into Julia’s eyes and smiles sweetly. He will have to remember to thank Vic again for that warning.

She returns his sweet smile and continues: “well, that settles the children’s bedroom. Mr. Stones also thinks if we rearrange the furniture in the study room we can, not only add a second desk and more bookshelves, but also two armchairs that can fold out into single beds, for when we have visitors”, Mr. Stones adds: “and I can procure furniture that matches the existing set”, David smiles: “that sounds very good!”.

After Mr. Stones leaves, David returns to lie on the bed. His back propped up against the headboard by several pillows. She walks in: “feeling tired?”, he nods: “when I stand for a while, I feel the need to lie down again”, she looks at him worried: “do you need your pills?”, he shakes his head and smiles softly: “not really, just a lie-down”. She climbs on the bed and snuggles up with him: “how do you like those renovation ideas?”, he smiles: “they seem very good. Thank you for thinking of the children, love”.

She gives him a kiss: “of course, love. When you moved in I knew you came as a package, with your children”, he returns her kiss lovingly: “aye, that’s the deal, I am afraid. Three for the price of one”, she smiles tenderly: “all quite lovely, especially the one…”, and she kisses him again.

They cuddle quietly for a while, until she looks up with a soft sneer: “he called you Mr. Montague”, he nods: “aye”, she smiles: “you didn’t seem surprised”, “well, it’s an understandable mistake. He knows you as Ms. Montague and he just assumed that is my surname too”.

She is looking at him intently now: “and you did not correct him…”, he smiles sweetly: “it’s no big deal, really. Does it bother you that he called me Montague?”, she looks surprised now: “bother? No, why would it? I just thought maybe it’d bother you…”.

He rolls his eye: “still finding it hard to believe I have no problem being the significant other of a well-known woman with more power than me, eh?”, she nods: “I suppose that’s what it is. Men don’t like that…”, he gives her a tender kiss and smirks: “then I must be a woman”, she reaches for his crotch and squeezes lightly: “definitely a man…”, they both laugh.

Then he looks at her serious: “Julia, my masculinity does not feed on me being above my woman. I am fine with your fame and power. I truly am”, then he reaches down and caresses the inside of her thighs: “if I have to be honest, I find that quite the turn on, actually…”, she giggles: “behave love, Vicky will be here with the children any time”.

Right then the doorbell rings then Kim’s voice announces: “the little Budds are here!”, and cheery young voices echo throughout the flat. They hear Vicky’s voice: “shoes off, first!”, then there is the sound of little socked running feet and Ella and Charlie dash in and climb onto their bed: “daddy! Julia!”.

Vicky walks in behind them, smiling: “I’ll be back in a few hours, children. Don’t forget your homework”, David reassures her: “no worries, Vic, we’ll cover that”, they both smile.

Julia and Ella are already conversing in French, and Charlie is joining that conversation too. David sighs: “if only I could learn languages as easily as children…”, Julia smiles at him softly: “your French is actually coming along quite nicely too, love”, he nods, smirking: “aye, I need to listen in and make sure you lot are not scheming behind my back”, they all laugh.

Then Vicky waves her hand: “I’m off, bye”, Ella makes a funny smirk: “Anthony said he is going with you today…”, Vicky nods and explains: “he doesn’t need to stay here. There are other PPOs in this building”.

Charlie turns towards her with his big innocent blue eyes and asks: “are you going to kiss Anthony again, mum?”. There is a deafening silence, Vicky blushes noticeably and stutters: “w- what?!?”, Ella smirks, her bright blue eyes giving her mother a teasing stare: “like last night...”, Charlie adds: “when we got up for a glass of water”, Ella continues with a silly smirk: “you and Anthony were on the sofa…”, Charlie nods: “the telly was on but you and Anthony were not really watching it”.

In that moment the children are distracted by their favorite cartoon starting and their attention is immediately 100% focused on the telly. Vicky appears visibly relieved. Then she looks at Julia and David, clearly embarrassed.

Julia laughs: “the appeal of PPOs, eh? I sure can relate…”, David chuckles: “of course, we are irresistible”, Julia smirks, nudging him with her elbow: “but not very humble…”, Vicky is still blushed and whispers: “sorry I didn’t realize the children…”, David smiles: “no worries, they are used to that”, then he turns to Julia and gives her a tender kiss. Neither of the children responds to that. They just keep chatting away, commenting on the TV program. David smiles: “see?”.

Julia chuckles: “enjoy your date, Vicky. You can take your time. The children can stay with us for as long as you need. Even overnight…”, Vicky blushes again: “thanks…”, David smiles: “bye Vic, have a good time… and see you later”, Julia smirks: “or tomorrow…”.


	9. Settling in a new life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their new life continues with more twists and more decisions.

Over the few weeks following their release from hospital, Julia and David settle in their new life together. They develop new habits even though for now taking care of their recovery still predominates their days.

Their health keeps improving. Their burns and scars are finally less painful, even if they are still rather red and sensitive to rough touch. They keep applying the healing ointment prescribed by the doctors at the hospital. It is a new routine. Every morning and evening they carefully and delicately apply the lotion onto each other’s scars and burns. The process itself can be painful but it often becomes rather erotic and leads to very intimate moments. Some of the ointment ends up in places that don’t actually have any burns and where it was probably not intended to go…

Their mental health improves too. They each take medications and go for weekly psychiatric therapy and their nightmares are becoming less and less frequent.

On most nights Julia can finally rest without seeing Terry’s blood all around her, hearing the sound of loud blasts, feeling the heat of flames all over her body, or seeing David’s dead body over hers. She really screams when she has the latter nightmare and David is always ready to comfort her: “I am here with you, my love. We have both survived the blast”, then he tenderly dries her tears and holds her in his arms until she stops shaking and goes back to sleep.

David too is finally getting a reprieve from his PTSD. His bad dreams and anxiety have become much less frequent and more manageable. When he tosses and turns and screams in the bed, she can now dare to delicately touch him, to awaken him from his nightmare while talking to him softly: “we are here in our bed, my love. You are at home, safe, far away from Helmand”. He never attacks her again. Not once since that faithful day when he woke up with his hands around her throat. Rather, when he hears her voice he is brought back to reality. Then he does the relaxation exercises his therapist has taught him. It took a while, but he is slowly learning to calm his anxiety and manage his panic attacks. And Julia has learned to help him: “take a deep breath, my love. That’s good. Another now. And another one. Deeper this time. Let’s count them together, one… two…”, until he regains control of his anxiety and goes back to sleep, holding onto her.

They also continue their daily physiotherapy and keep improving. Initially, their physiotherapist Steve goes to their flat, but once David is weaned off the walker and can use a single crutch, they go to his practice. The first time they leave their flat the press goes wild again. They make every evening news and the video and photos of them together are shared widely on all types of media.

But then, as that becomes a daily occurrence, the press’ attention declines sharply. After a couple of weeks, only a few journalists are left by Overstrand Mansions and they don’t even take photos or videos anymore. They just wave at them and Julia and David wave back, as if they were old friends.

At that point, things have quieted down so much that the children can visit more regularly, spending a few nights every week with them. Vicky is happy to drive them around so that they can be with their father and Julia. By now Ella and Charlie consider their PPO and their mother’s new date, Anthony, like a member of their new family. They are not bothered by his presence at all.

On the day they return from physiotherapy with David using a crutch, having finally dropped the walker off at the hospital, they open a bottle of good wine and celebrate the occasion with their mothers.

Julia is doing rather well too, walking mostly without her crutch and leg brace within the flat, using a cane for help instead, even though she still uses both crutch and leg brace when she goes outside.

When that evening Julia and David retire to their bedroom, he walks up to her and wraps his arms around her. He gives her a tender kiss: “time for our shower…”, she smirks: “I thought Steve said you could shower on your own now”, he makes a naughty smile: “oh I think I still need help…”, she gives him a sceptical gaze: “is that so?!?”, he nods, making a pretend very stern face: “definitely… showers, ma'am. They can be quite the danger in untrained hands”, she smirks and gives him a tender kiss: “mmm somehow it feels like I am being played here”, he returns her kiss, sensually pushing his tongue into her mouth, and murmurs: “absolutely…”, then he takes her hand and gently drags her to the bathroom. She follows happily…

The following day over dinner their mothers inform them that they will leave soon. Ella smiles sweetly: “you are both doing much better and you don’t really need our help anymore”, Frances adds: “rather, it’s time for the two of you to have the privacy you need to build a new life together as a couple”.

Ella nods: “and your father is becoming quite restless…”, David smirks: “missing his lass, eh?”, she smiles: “and making a mess of the house, according to your uncle who is helping him with house cleaning once a week”, they laugh.

Frances informs them: “I have bought the train ticket to Cheltenham. I will leave tomorrow afternoon”, Julia smiles sweetly: “thank you very much for all your help, mother. You have abandoned your life at a moment’s notice to be with me for months. I truly appreciate it”, she smiles: “of course Julia, you are my baby…”, Frances smiles at her daughter sweetly as she continues: “and I am glad we seem to have found a way to communicate more openly”, Julia nods, with a soft smile: “there was good coming out of such awful experience. Who would have ever thought?”.

David smiles sweetly: “we will miss you, ladies”, Ella laughs: “liar… you and Julia can’t wait to be alone…”, they all laugh and finish their dinner.

Julia gets up, goes to the fridge and takes out a bottle of champagne. She opens it and pours a glass each, then she toasts: “to beautiful new friendships”, Ella adds: “and a beautiful new love”, Frances joins in: “you will be happy together. I am sure of that”, David walks up to Julia with his crutch, wraps his arms around her waist and gives her a loving kiss: “I know…”. Julia puts her arms around his neck and looks into his eyes lovingly: “me too…”, then she kisses him.

Ella and Frances smile sweetly, then Ella raises her glass again: “I will wait for you all to visit us in Scotland”, Frances raises her glass too: “and I in Cheltenham, even though it is not as beautiful, I am afraid”, David raises his glass again: “and we will always be happy to have you visit us here”.

A few days later, their mothers have left and David and Julia are lying on the bed, relaxing after working for a good part of the day. She lies in the crook of his neck and sighs: “all these cuddles are turning me into a softie”, he chuckles and caresses her hair gently: “not really, still my tough politician, just one who has learned to relax”, she raises her head and looks into his eyes: “it’s more than that…”, she gives him a soft kiss: “I somehow find that I very much enjoy being in love with you”, he smiles very sweetly: “well, that’s good because I enjoy being in love with you too”, then he gently tickles her, she giggles, he whispers: “so very much…”.

She lowers her hand along his chest, stroking gently under his T-shirt. Then, she reaches his shorts and sneaks her hand under the hem, finding her prize inside his boxers. She moves her hand on him provoking a very clear and rapid response. She feels him grow hard into her hand. She continues stoking gently, moving her hand along his length, eliciting deep moans.

He returns the favor, caressing her breasts through her shirt. Then he tugs on it. She raises her arms and he takes it off her. He moves down and kisses behind her ear, all along the side of her neck to her collarbone. She moans softly: “Sergeant Budd, you are trouble…”, he undoes the hooks of her bra and removes it: “proudly so, ma’am”, then he begins kissing and sucking on her nipples. She responds with deep moans. He reaches down with his hand and enters her knickers. He begins rubbing on her clit slowly. Her moans deepen.

He kneels and removes her leggings and knickers, then he opens her legs, leans in, and gently blows his warm breath on her sex. She whimpers. He reaches for her clit with his mouth and begins gently licking, pushing, and pulling on it with his tongue, lips, and teeth. She is in Paradise right now, her moans growing in intensity. Then he inserts two fingers and moves them in her, finding her G spot. She squirms on the bed holding onto his head. He continues until she suddenly: “ohhhh”, arching her back, panting heavily. He can feel her body contract repeatedly around his fingers. He continues licking her clit, moving his fingers gently until she comes down from her high.

He moves up to kiss her tenderly. Her eyes are still closed. She opens them and looks at him lovingly, still panting: “you are _big_ trouble, PS Budd…”, he smirks naughtily: “you say that because you don’t know how much more trouble I can be…”, then he gets up and leaves the bedroom with his crutch.

He returns shortly, pushing a chair from the dining room. She lifts herself up in the bed and looks at him curiously. He puts the chair near the bed and makes a smug smile: “that will do”, then he takes her hand and gently has her get off the bed. She complies, looking very intrigued.

He pulls her naked body into him and hugs her tightly. His arms around her waist. Then he explains: “remember when I stayed behind to talk to Steve today?”, she nods, he continues: “I asked whether I could hold a weight of approximately 60Kg on my pelvis”, he said I could only if that was you. She chuckles: “how wonderful… the sex life of the Home Secretary made public…”, he continues with a smug smile: “aye, ma’am… but he said you shouldn’t kneel and push on that leg too hard. So I thought if we sat on a chair, it’d be easier on your leg”.

So he does. He strips down and sits himself on the chair. Then he gently pulls at her hand. She smiles seductively, straddles him, sitting on his thighs, and gives him a long sensual kiss while reaching down for his sex, stroking it slowly, applying the gentle squeeze she knows he likes. He moans deeply, kneading her bum cheeks with his warm hands: “you are trouble too, Home Secretary”.

She chuckles and parrots his previous words: “proudly so, sir…”, then she lifts herself up, and slowly lowers herself onto his erection. For several seconds, she sits with her eyes closed, allowing her body to adjust to having him inside again. She moans loudly: “gosh this feels sooo good”, he nods in agreement and pants: “wonderful… finally…”, then she reaches for his lips and they kiss. A Long and very sensual kiss, their tongues dancing together, back and forth between their mouths.

Then he gently thrusts up into her. She moans then warns: “you’ll hurt yourself, if you do that, love”, he smiles: “just encouraging you to take the lead, my love”, she smirks naughtily and begins moving on him. Back and forth, gently. They both moan. Up and down, slowly. They moan again. She continues with her movements in his lap until they are both moaning very intensely.

Within a few minutes, he is panting heavily, clearly holding back. Waiting for her to reach her climax. She knows. She can see that. She kisses him deeply then she accelerates her motion, repeatedly rubbing her clit into his muscular abdomen. That does it. She comes with a very deep groan, calling his name: “David… ohhhh… yes…”. He lets go and comes into her at the same time: “Juliaaaaa”, then they lean their heads onto each other’s shoulder, hugging one another, panting heavily while they come down from their highs.

Afterwards, they lie back onto the bed and cuddle up. She speaks first: “gosh I had missed that…”, he kisses her hair: “aye, me too”, she raises her head and looks at him softly: “the idea of the chair was good. Did Steve suggest it?”, he chuckles: “we didn’t go that much into the details of our lovemaking, Julia”, she looks into his eyes sternly: “that’s good… I do have a public image to maintain, you know, Mr. Trouble…”, he chuckles: “aye… the idea of the chair was mine only”, she gives him a soft kiss: “excellent idea, Sergeant, we may implement it again soon”, he returns her kiss: “happily so, my love”, then they lie in bed and fall asleep into each other’s arms.

The next day, during her daily visit, Julia’s personal secretary hands her a sealed folder: “the PM has asked me to give this to you. He said you should call him on the private line”. Julia takes the folder: “thank you, do others at the Home Office know about this?”, the secretary shakes her head: “the PM has called me on the direct line and asked that I gave it to you without telling anyone, not even Mr. Penhaligon”, Julia smiles: “let’s leave it that way for now, until I have looked at these documents carefully. Please make sure you don’t tell anyone”.

Once the secretary has left, Julia rings the PM: “hello Thomas, I have received that classified folder”, “those are a copy of the documents that were in Tahir Mahmood’s briefcase. CCTV footage shows that Robert MacDonald gave that case to Mahmood. Now that the investigation is concluded and Craddock, Aikens, Nadia, and their accomplices have been arrested, the police have allowed the release of these documents to you”, Julia is surprised: “how have they survived that explosion?”, the PM explains: “the briefcase was found far from the point of the explosion and the hard casing has protected the documents from the flames”, he pauses briefly then he adds: “I have taken a quick look and I think you should take a good look too, then we can talk about it again”.

After closing her phone call with the PM, Julia sits at her desk and goes over the content of Tahir’s case. She is surprised to find a copy of her speech. She compares it to her own file and finds several brief edits that look like have been added at the last moment. She fact-checks all of those additions and realizes they are inaccurate. Had she read those to the audience, she would have been badly attacked by the press and the opposition for incorrect factual information.

She takes the folder and walks to the bedroom where David is working with his laptop, often finding it more comfortable to lie on the bed than sitting on a chair with his healing pelvis. She sits by him, looking very serious. David notices that: “what’s up, love?”.

She makes a tight Montague smile and explains: “the speech Tahir was trying to hand to me, from the briefcase Rob gave him, had been intentionally amended to incorporate inaccurate information. Had I given that speech, it would have seriously damaged me politically”.

David seems surprised: “Rob? With all the love he professes for you?”, she shrugs her shoulders: “welcome to the world of politics, David. I cannot trust anyone, not even, or maybe especially those who profess love”.

He reaches for her hand on the bed and looks at her sweetly: “hey, that was unfair…”, she looks at him with a smirk: “still on probation…”, he looks quite hurt now and murmurs: “…still …really?”, she looks into his eyes softly: “no… not really... I like to think I can believe you now. Trust you the way I did before, when you were the only one I could trust”, he leans in and gives her a soft kiss, his eyes still very sad. He whispers: “I am on your side, my love, always. Please, do believe me. Do trust me”, his sad voice almost begging.

She smiles softly: “I wouldn’t be telling this to you if I didn’t trust you, would I?”, then she smirks: “I thought you were a more perspicacious policeman, Sergeant Budd”, he smirks too: “been on sick leave for many weeks, Ms. Montague. My skills must have turned rusty”, he leans in and kisses her again: “or maybe I am just too personally invested…”. She is looking into his eyes tenderly. He gives her another kiss, then asks: “what are you going to do?”.

She makes a tough Montague grin: “grill Rob. I know he doesn’t have the brains to come up with such a scheme on his own. I will make him confess who was behind it”, he smirks: “I’d be happy to help with some interrogation techniques I have learned in the army... if we could get confessions out of Afghan rebels, I can certainly make that wimp blab…”, she chuckles: “thanks for offering, love, but I think getting Rob to talk will not require such techniques. Just some old-fashioned political pressure”.

Then she texts Rob’s cell phone: ‘I need to talk to you. Have time for a quick work meeting?’, Rob replies within seconds: ‘of course’, Julia replies: ‘tomorrow at 2PM? Our flat’, ‘see you then’. She looks at David: “he agreed to 2PM. Perfect. He always has a low in energy after lunch…”.

David chuckles: “gosh I hope I never get on your wrong side, love”, she smirks: “and me on yours. I wouldn’t want to experience those techniques you were talking about”, he looks horrified: “I would never, ever, use those on you, love! No matter how upset I may be!”, she smirks: “so glad to hear that, Sergeant”, he smirks too: “well, now it’d be fair if you similarly promised to never use your political techniques on me, when we have disagreements…”, she chuckles: “not a chance. What else would I use?”, he makes a silly smirk: “oi, you are trouble, ma’am, big trouble…”, she gives him a knowing smirk: “I thought you already knew that much, sir…”, he chuckles: “aye…”, then he leans in for another kiss.

The next day, Rob’s visit is rather brief. When he arrives, Kim lets him in, surprised to find him back on the approved visitors’ list, even if only for one day.

Rob enters the foyer and hears Julia’s voice: “in the study room, Rob!”. As he walks there, he sees David on the sofa with his laptop. David raises his head: “hello Rob, glad to see they’ve let you out of prison”, Rob nods: “I am out on bail, waiting for the hearing”, David shakes his head: “that’s what happens when you follow Penhaligon’s orders too closely”, then he points with his hand behind him: “Julia is in the study”, Rob nods and walks in.

David hears Julia’s jovial voice: “come on in, Rob, please sit down. Can you please close the door first so that we don’t disturb David?”. About 20 minutes later, the door opens and a very flustered Rob walks out. Julia’s stern voice follows: “remember, resignations on my secretary’s desk first thing tomorrow morning”, Rob tucks his head in between his shoulders and walks away, without saying a word.

David is very curious now. He gets up, grabs his crutch, and walks to the study room. He stands at the door: “that was quick”, she raises her head: “told you I didn’t need your army techniques”, then she smirks: “Mike, Roger, and John Vosler were all implicated”, David looks surprised: “even Mike?”, she nods making her tough Montague gaze: “told you, I can’t trust anyone”, then her eyes soften: “except you…”, he smiles sweetly: “aye… what are you going to do now?”.

She leans back in her chair: “Rob is resigning quietly tomorrow, in exchange for me not revealing his scheme publicly. He is young enough that I hope he can learn a lesson from this and still go on to a good career”, David nods: “aye, he is such a looser he’d make a good politician. A fantastic Tory”, Julia smirks at the obvious jab, but says nothing. She just frowns, giving him a death stare.

He chuckles: “how about Roger and Mike?’, she sighs: “I will talk to the acting PM about those two. If it was up to me Roger would be out of the door in no time”, he sneers: “aye, we know that… how about Mike?”.

She smirks: “I don’t know… he is actually doing a good job as acting Home Secretary and he is old enough that he could just retire if so he wished, but I’d frankly rather keep him at the Home Office a little longer. He can help lighten my load now that he has learned so much about the job”.

David looks surprised: “lighten your load? Since when is that something you strive for?”, she gives him a sweet smile: “since I have someone I want to go home to in the end of my day, without bringing work home”, he looks really surprised now: “are you serious? You going home without work?”.

She nods smiling sweetly: “being shot at and blown up has made me reassess my priorities. I love my job, but I also love you and I won’t let my job interfere with that”, she is looking at him very tenderly, now. He is very moved by such declaration, walks up to her, leans in, and reaches her lips with his: “I love you too”. They kiss. A long kiss.

David sits on one of the new fold out armchairs in the study room and asks: “why?”, she smirks: “they were worried in my speech I was going to put in a bid for the party leadership and the PM position, so they decided to boycott the text to damage me politically”, he looks into her eyes: “were you?”, she nods: “eventually yes, but not on that day, actually. I was going to talk about other things”.

She hands him a printout of the speech she was going to give at St Matthews College: “I’d like you to read the parts you never got to hear. Some were meant for you”, he looks surprised: “more than the allusion to factors that close off entry into medical schools?”, she smiles sweetly: “I was also going to talk about the war, cautioning Parliament to consider implications for civilians and our troops when deliberating about it”, he is really surprised now. Her speech was permeated with elements inspired by their conversations. His eyes soften.

She continues with a smirk: “I do listen, you know…”. He is so moved now that he struggles to find the words to reply to that. She can see that. She gets up, goes to him and sits on the armrest of the armchair. She reaches for his face and strokes it gently: “I have learned a lot from you, my love”, then she leans in and gives him a long kiss.

Then she sits back at her desk and returns her attention to her computer monitor. He remains seated, looking at her. She can feel his eyes on her: “what?’, he smiles: “do you still plan to run for the party leadership? The race is on now that John Vosler has resigned”, she looks directly into his eyes: “what would you think if I was considering it?”.

He seems surprised again: “are you really asking me?!?”, she nods, smiling sweetly: “of course, it’d directly and significantly affect your life. It’s only fair you’d have a say in the decision”, he smiles: “what if I asked you not to go for it?”, she smiles too: “I’d ask you for the reasons behind your objection, then I’d consider them as I take my decision”.

He smiles sweetly: “well, you don’t need to. Of course I’d support you if you wanted to run for the party leadership. I will always support you, my love, in anything you want to do. I will be by your side. By choice. Always…”, she smiles sweetly: “and in your support I will find the strength and determination I need to pursue anything. Always…”, she gets up and walks up to him again, for another long kiss.

Then she takes his hand and leads him back to the sofa: “here we will be more comfortable, love. Let’s talk a bit more”. She sees his laptop, still on the coffee table and smiles at him sweetly: “how about you? What are your plans? Will you be going back to the Royal and Specialist Protection Command?”, he shakes his head: “if I can’t be your PPO, I can’t really see myself protecting anybody else”, she smiles sweetly but does not say anything. She lets him continue.

He sighs: “and Steve says with this broken pelvis it is unlikely I will ever be able to stand the long hours required by that job”, she makes a sad smile: “I am so sorry, my love”, he looks at her sweetly and shakes his head: “I am not, actually. I see it as a good opportunity for a career change”, she smiles, curious: “what were you thinking?”, he replies: “I am not sure yet. I want to see what options are out there. I do have time. For now I am financially covered by the PPO insurance for being blown up on the job”, he chuckles: “the perks…”, then he continues: “I have been sending my CV around. When Rob walked in I was reading a few replies I have received. Some look quite interesting”.

She is intrigued now: “for example?”, he explains: “well, there are three I may consider seriously. One is to be the chief coordinator for a private security firm. I’d plan the security for private events, such as parties by rich and famous people, movie premiers and the like. For example, next month BBC will hold an event for the release of the second season of their well-known TV series ‘Bodyguard’. Famous actors such as Keeley Hawes and Richard Madden will attend. They need to secure the place. I wouldn’t do the actual guarding. Just the planning, risk assessment, mitigation strategies, guarding requirements, and all that”. Julia looks intrigued: “Bodyguard, eh? It rings a bell. We should watch it”, he smiles: “aye, the first season is on Netflix. We can begin watching it tonight if you wish”.

He pauses briefly, thinking. Then he continues: “the private security job is well paid and it has regular hours. So I’d be home in time to get the children from school, or spend time with my favorite Tory politician”, she smirks: “that’s not much of a compliment. You don’t like the conservative party”, he smirks and gives her a soft kiss: “except for a certain Tory whom I like very, very, much”.

She lovingly returns his kiss, then she presses on: “would you like that job?”, he nods: “maybe… it pays well… much better than the police, actually”, she smiles knowingly: “but…”, he smiles back: “but… it doesn’t seem very exciting, does it?”, she smiles sweetly: “that’s what I thought… you need to feel purpose in what you do and somehow I can’t see you finding your purpose in this job”, he nods: “aye, you’ve nailed it, love… you know me well…”, and gives her another kiss.

She smiles: “how about the two other offers you are considering?”, he explains: “those are essentially for the same job within two fairly different realities. I’d be in charge of rookie training. One offer is from the Police Academy and the other from the British Army. Both are good offers and both involve regular hours and are better paid than PPOs”.

She does not want to influence his decision, so she inquires cautiously: “would you like that?”, he nods: “aye, I think that would be fun… and more socially useful jobs than protecting the fancy parties of spoiled rich people…”, she nods: “have you thought of which one you’d prefer? Police or Army?”, he seems unsure: “what do you think?”.

She doesn’t really want to answer that. She wants him to reach his decision freely, without her pressuring either way. So she replies cautiously again: “have you talked to your therapist?”, he shakes his head: “not yet, but I plan to. I know why you are asking. Returning to the Army as a rookie instructor, may be a trigger for my PTSD”, she nods, but does not say anything. He smiles and gives her a kiss: “I am doing so much better. I wouldn’t want to go back to that dark place I was in when I first met you, my love”, she smiles sweetly and kisses him, stroking his cheek lightly.

He looks into her eyes: “you are quiet because you don’t want to influence me, but I know what you are thinking, my beloved politician”, she keeps smiling, but says nothing. He continues: “I will accept the interview with the Police Academy. I think that’s a better option”, she looks at him sweetly: “I will support you in anything you choose, my love, you know that”.

She takes his laptop from the coffee table and hands it to him: “mind unlocking it?”, he smiles sweetly: “the password is Lavender”, she gives him a soft kiss, types the password, opens the maps, does a little search, then she looks at him: “if you end up working at the Police Academy we should move to north London, in a location in between the Home Office and the Police Academy”, he looks surprised: “really?”, she smiles sweetly: “really, love, we should live in a location that works for both of us. Why are you looking so surprised? We are in this together, David. A couple. If we want _us_ to work, we each need to compromise. I am happy to move, for _us_ to work…”, he gives her another long kiss: “gosh, there is nothing I want more than _us_ to work…”.

She kisses him again: “then we will move. We need a larger house anyway, if we want to have a bedroom each for the children, a study room for each of us, and a guest room…”, he smiles sweetly: “you are describing a mansion”, she laughs: “well, me and you CAN share a study room, but I don’t really think the children will be happy to share a bedroom for much longer. Especially Ella, she is approaching her teen years. She will want privacy”, he nods: “aye, Charlie too, when he gets older”.

She takes his hand and smiles softly: “it’s settled then, once we know where you will be working, we will move to a location that is in between your job and mine". He leans in for another kiss: “unless we end up living at 10 Downing Street…”, she laughs. They kiss again. A long kiss. A loving kiss. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So now they have a plan for the rest of their (happy) lives together. The next chapter will be the epilogue.


	10. Epilogue: Love wins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A brief chapter with the epilogue of this story, the way I think Julia would deal with all that BS...

A few days after the discovery of the infamous Rob & Co. betrayal, they have their BBC interview with John Smith. They prepare for it carefully. Julia thoroughly studies the data she had her secretary collect for her. As always, she likes her answers to be grounded in hard facts and she carefully prepares for that.

The head of the PR team, Cheryl, visits a few times, to help them practise for various types of questions they may be asked: “excellent, I think you are both ready for this”, David smirks: “as ready as I will ever be”, he does not look too happy. Julia sweetly strokes his cheek: “it won’t be that bad”, he nods: “and, truthfully, I do feel much more prepared and ready now”, then he turns to Cheryl: “thanks for your help. You really know how to prepare people to face PR challenges”.

The evening of the interview, they leave their flat early. She is wearing one of her no-nonsense Home Secretary outfits, a blue suit with a white silk blouse, a few buttons undone, a simple necklace highlighting her cleavage, her now longer hair nicely curled up, and a light make up that covers her scars. David is wearing his suit and a stern face.

When their names are called, they walk into the BBC studio smiling, hand in hand. Julia is walking straight and proud, without leg brace or cane. David is still using a crutch, but he also walks straight up, with an almost militaristic stride. They sit on the semicircular sofa, by John Smith.

As they sit, the audience is clapping and the journalist welcomes them: “Home Secretary, Sergeant Budd, thank you for joining us tonight. I hope you are both feeling better”, Julia replies with her nice political smile: “much better, thank you, John”, the journalist smiles politely: “we have seen on television that you are both still doing physiotherapy”, Julia smiles: “and it is helping a lot. I’d like to take the opportunity to thank Steve, our fantastic physiotherapist, for his excellent job and continued support”.

They continue with the polite talking for a bit, then John Smith shifts gear: “your relationship has received extensive press attention. Are you surprised of that, Mr. Budd?”, David smiles: “given Julia’s job, I can’t say I am surprised, but I do wonder why there’d be so much interest in us. We are just like any other couple, really”, Smith smirks: “well, every other couple does not involve the Home Secretary of the UK and her PPO”, Julia smiles and corrects him gently: “former PPO…”.

Smith adds: “and married…”, Julia continues: “their divorce papers are being finalized as we speak”, Smith digs in further: “divorce caused by Mr. Budd’s extramarital relationship with you…”, Julia smiles very politely: “that’s what happened to my marriage, John. If you are interested in marital infidelity, you may want to interview my ex-husband, Chief Whip Roger Penhaligon”, the audience laughs, Julia continues: “in David’s case, three was no infidelity. David and his wife had been separated for almost two years when David and I first met”.

David is nodding. Smith takes the opportunity to go after him now: “after your divorce, will you be proposing to the Home Secretary, Mr. Budd?”, David smiles and replies politely: “answering your question now would spoil the surprise later…”, Julia adds with one of her nice camera smiles: “for now we are happy to just share our lives, like 27% of all couples in the UK, who live together without being legally married”, then she smirks lightly: “this is the third millennium, John…”, the audience laughs. Julia turns towards the audience and smiles graciously. This is exactly what she was going for. The public’s sympathy.

John Smith does not relent. He addresses David again: “your partner is a very important woman…”, David smiles: “aye, and I am very proud of her accomplishments”, Smith digs in again: “that power dynamic is not very common, is it?”, David smiles: “I wouldn’t say that. For every very important person there is a proud partner with less power”, Smith does not relent: “in your case it’s the woman who has the power”, David smirks: “I don’t see how that makes any difference. Still the third millennium, Mr. Smith…”, the audience laughs and applauds again. Julia and David smile at them. Exactly what they wanted.

John Smith is not one to give up easily so he goes right back in: “in your case your partner is also your boss”, David shakes his head: “I haven’t been Julia’s PPO for months and technically she never was my boss. My superiors are officers of the Royal and Specialist Protection Command of the London Metropolitan Police Force, not the person I am in charge of protecting”.

Julia steps in with a gracious smile and more data: “meeting one’s partner on the job is very common. A recent study shows that more than 20% or all couples in the UK have met on the job”, then she very skillfully takes the lead of the conversation. She turns towards the audience and asks: “if you have met your partner on the job, please, raise your hand”, a large number of hands goes up. Julia smiles charmingly. The audience applauds again. Julia continues: “this applies even more to our politicians. Most members of parliament are in a relationship with either a colleague or a former or even current employee”.

Faced with the hard numbers again, John Smith gives up on the topic and moves on. He keeps going after David. Julia is obviously a tougher cookie: “Mr. Budd, your girlfriend is 9 years older than you…”, David smiles politely: “aye, that’s what Wikipedia says and I can confirm that the same date of birth is on her documents”, the audience laughs.

Smith does not let that distract him: “and that does not bother you?”, David answers without hesitation: “not at all, age does not matter”, Julia steps in with data again, smiling nicely: “the vast majority of couples in the UK are mixed- age and for about 15% of them the age difference is 10 years or greater”. Smith sneers: “I am sure the data show that in most cases it’s the man who is older”.

Julia was waiting exactly for this. She makes one big polite smile and unleashes the full blast of the barrister and politician in her: “Mr. Smith would you be asking these questions if David was older than me, if he was the one with more power, or if he was the one who is dating someone who previously worked for him, his secretary, for example?”, she does not give him the time to answer, she smiles graciously and presses on with the stab: “whether intentional or not, the double standard underlying your questions is frankly astounding”, David nods and adds with a smirk: “for the third millennium…”, the audience claps loud and long.

Julia smiles and continues: “all of my life I have had to always prove I could do jobs that were traditionally held by men. And each time I had to work twice as hard and achieve twice as much as my male colleagues, just to receive the same recognition as them”, all of the women in the audience and even many men stand up and clap, shouting: “yes! So true!!!”, John Smith is shocked. This is not the direction this interview was supposed to take. 

Julia continues, energized by all the excitement: “similarly, what do I need to do now, to demonstrate that my relationship with David is as legitimate as those of my male colleagues? Be twice as happy? Twice as in love?”.

In that moment she lets her guard down. For only a brief few seconds her trained politician mask is off. She looks into David’s eyes and smiles. A loving, tender smile. A woman in love smile. And David returns it. Fully and lovingly. The cameras capture that moment very well. The audience notices it too and claps again, all standing and cheering.

John Smith struggles to regain control of the interview. He smiles politely: “Ms. Montague, on this show we pride ourselves for using gender-appropriate questions and we strive for gender balance”.

Julia smiles politely: “and I truly appreciate that sentiment. I really do. In view of it, may I ask that you also consider the context of your questions? Whether they are the same when the recipient is a man or a woman. For example, I’d strongly advise that you and your colleague journalists take a careful look at the questions you have prepared for David and me today. Would you be asking the same questions if I was a male politician? Would my partner’s marital status, our age difference, and power dynamics be questioned if I was a man?”, she pauses briefly.

Then she continues, looking directly at the journalist: “Would ALL of your questions be on my personal relationship as opposed to my job, my political positions and actions, our country’s current challenges and future directions? How many personal questions do you ask my male colleagues when you host them on your show?”, the audience applauds.

Julia smiles then adds: “I should thank you, John, and I truly mean it. I should thank you very much for asking those questions because they gave me, they gave our marvelous country, our great democracy, the opportunity to consider the issue of gender equality in our society. And maybe even encourage your own professional journalist association to reassess its deontological statement and code of conduct to incorporate considerations of gender equality in how personal relationships are covered by the press”, Smith is stunned. He can only nod and agree with her.

She smiles graciously: “as a lawyer and politician, I’d be happy to take a look at a draft of the text and provide advice on the legal language”, she stops briefly then adds with a smirk: “at no charge…”, the audience laughs again.

Julia smiles at John Smith now and concludes with a poke into his private life: “I am sure as a man you respect your wife, for the bright journalist and colleague she is. And I am certain it does not bother you that Jackie is 5 years older than you. You wouldn’t be with her if it did”, she smiles graciously then continues: “so I know there is hope. I know that just like you most men today respect their co-workers and romantic partners and are not openly or intentionally biased against women. What we are left with is the unconscious bias that is still pervading our society, rooted in centuries of male-dominated history. That is what we need to address next”, the audience applauds.

John Smith joins them in the applause and concludes the interview: “Home Secretary, Sergeant Budd, thank you for being here with us this evening and for raising such important issues”.

Julia and David smile, get up, and leave the studio, walking hand in hand, smiling at the audience who is still standing and clapping.

Outside, they find the usual horde of journalists except that this time the questions they shout are very different: “Home Secretary, how do you suggest we ensure gender equality in parliament?”, “Mr. Budd, will you be teaching your son to respect women the way you do?”.

The couple smiles at the crowd and walks to their car hand in hand escorted by their PPOs. As soon as they are all seated in the car, Kim makes a big wide smile and comments very enthusiastically: “that was absolutely marvelous, Ju-… madam”, almost forgetting that when she is not in private she is not to use her first name. Julia laughs: “thanks Kim, I appreciate that”.

Even the new driver, who is usually very quiet, makes a shy comment: “I am sure the wife will agree with all that you have said today, Home Secretary”, Julia smiles: “please give my regards to your wife. I hope my remarks have made you think about how you view her”, the driver nods: “they sure have, thank you for that, madam”, then he turns to Kim: “the driving route?”, Kim immediately refocuses on her job and shows the map with the highlighted route to him.

While they are driving home, Julia and David look up the internet in their cell phones. All traditional news outlets and social media are covering the interview extensively and all emphasize the gender-equality issue Julia has so brilliantly raised. Most media outlets show the snapshot from the interview of Julia and David looking into each other’s eyes with loving smiles. Many titles are a variant of: ‘love wins and highlights gender-bias in journalistic reporting’.

They are still in the car when Julia’s cell phone pings. It’s a text message from the PM. Julia opens it, reads it, and shows it to David: ‘brilliant interview. Talk later’. They both smile.

In that moment, Julia’s cell phone rings: “hello mother… thank you… glad you liked that… yes, he is… right beside me…”, David leans in and speaks into her cell phone: “always my choice, Frances, you know that…”, Julia smiles at him sweetly: “talk to you later mother, bye”.

Then his cell phone rings too: “hi ma… just done, still in the car… thank you, I will tell her…”, he laughs out loud: “aye, better than any spanking…”, he laughs again: “agreed, that’s a lawyer and politician’s version of spanking, almost as entertaining as yours… aye, she is… right beside me…”, Julia leans into his cell phone: “always my choice, Ella, you know that…”, “catch ya later, ma”.

Julia and David look into each other’s eyes with loving smiles. They kiss. A long love kiss. From the front seat, Kim sees that in the rear-view mirror and smiles.

Love wins.

THE END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I hope you thought this was in character. It's how I envision Julia deal with all that excessive attention to and criticisms of her love life. 
> 
> A quick note: to the best of my knowledge the numbers Julia quotes to rebut those questions are correct. I did not do a thorough search but I did pull some survey data and academic articles with a relatively quick search. So hopefully I am not too far off...
> 
> Last but not least, THANK YOU all for reading this and for the lovely comments. I appreciate them all!
> 
> Now what we truly need is a second season where we learn about Julia's survival... 😀


End file.
